India’s Farmer Suicides: “The farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn’t still be a farmer.” — Will Rogers. Indian farmers have begun taking their lives in staggering numbers, more than a quarter million in the last two decades, a trend the Daily Mail has termed the “Genetically Modified Genocide.” According to a paper published by New York University, 17,638 farmers killed themselves in 2009 this means one every half-hour. While farming might be among the most ancient of all professions, it is not immune to the changing tide of technology. Desperate to preserve their way of life, farmers are forced to take usurious loans to pay for Monsanto seedsand pesticides just to stay afloat. Even under optimal conditions, a farmer with several acres of land makes less than a dollar a day. India is already cripplingly poor; 25 percent of the population lives under the poverty line (mandated by the government at approximately 40 cents a day). One bad growing season (whether caused by drought, infestations, or expensive chemicals that just didn’t work) leaves a farmer with tragically few options. He can default on his loan, lose his land and live as a beggar, or end things once and for all. In a truly ugly twist of irony, the farmers often kill themselves by drinking the very pesticides that were supposed to save them, leaving behind helpless families. Salute to #Annadhatha If u have a kind heart SHARE it.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 15:07:17 +0000
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