Though the answer also depends on what is done with the land and whether it is irrigated (60 per cent of Indian agricultural land is not), it should be obvious that less than 2 hectares is sub-optimal, particularly in dry-land areas. Therefore the importance of that reform agenda. True, barring trade, most of these policies are state-level. However, a government focused on the aam farmer could have done much more to incentivise such changes. True, a trillion-dollar economy can, and should, financially afford the agricultural transition that developed countries went through before an industrial revolution. But debt relief doesn’t facilitate that transition, though it may be placebo, and the issue is not 0.3 per cent of GDP (per year) or whatever the eventual figure. National Crime Records Bureau data surface with a time-lag. With that caveat, around 110,000 people commit suicide every year. Around 16,000 to 17,000 are farmers, with the figure sharply increasing in 1998 and then again in 2004, before dropping in 2005. The intention is not to be heartless about farmer suicides. However, one should note that compared to the number of farmers in the work-force, the number of farmers committing suicides is relatively lower; and we should not be heartless about all suicides, not just farmers.

In general terms, farmers commit more suicides than landless labourers. One can debate whether agricultural wage rates have kept pace with inflation. Subject to inter-regional variations, they often have, leading to higher real wage rates. However, for farmers, there has been a double squeeze, because input costs (including wages) have increased while output prices have not increased proportionately. And fragmentary data suggest farmer suicides are concentrated in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, though some other states (Kerala, Goa) also figure in the list.

... contd.