AP and Telangana may have fancy schemes like Rythu Bharosa and Rythu Bandhu. They have many schemes of subsidy for the farm sector. Yet, the two states continue to be on top of the list of the states that have most farmers’ suicide. Across the country, the farmers are ending up their lives in big numbers.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, the farmers’ suicides have gone up by 18 per cent in 2020 over the preceding year. The NCRB statistics say that as many as 10677 farmers had committed suicides in 2020. Maharashtra stood first in terms of farmers’ suicides. The state has seen 4006 farmer suicides in 2020. Both the Telugu states figure among the top five.

Karnataka stands next with 2016 suicides. Andhra Pradesh has recorded 563 farmers suicides, while Telangana has 466 suicides. Statistics show that out of the total 1,53,052 suicides recorded in 2020, an estimated 7 per cent of the suicides are of those from the farm sectors. Of the 10677 deaths, nearly 7000, which is roughly 70 per cent, are from AP, Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

This shows that the various subsidies and welfare schemes are of no use in preventing suicides among the farm sector. The slew of the welfare schemes and subsidies given to the farm sector are of no avail. In fact, more fertile Andhra, which has major rivers like Krishna, Godavari, Penna and Tungabhadra has more suicides than parched Telangana.