Farmer Suicides in India: Levels and Trends across Major States, 1995-2011

Deepankar Basu (), Debarshi Das () and Kartik Misra ()
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Kartik Misra: Department of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

No 2016-01, UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers from University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics

Abstract: In the paper, we use data on farmer suicides from the National Crime Records Bureau and population data from the Censuses of 1991, 2001 and 2011 to estimate the suicide mortality rate (SMR) of farmers and non-farmers for 19 major states of India and for the country as a whole. We use movements in the SMR ratio (ratio of farmer SMR and non-farmer SMR) to understand the level and trend of the problem of farmer suicides across states and over time. For the country as a whole, and for many individual states, the SMR ratio has increased over time. This suggests that the problem of farmer suicides has become more severe across large swathes of the country, and calls for immediate and well planned policy interventions.

Keywords: farmer suicides; India; debt; agrarian crisis. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I30 J11 Q10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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