The agrarian crisis only seems to be deepening in Maharashtra with as many as 525 farmers ending their lives in the Marathwada region alone this year.
The highest number of suicides were reported from Beed district, where, according to the officials, the ruined BT cotton crop is taking a heavy toll.
Last year, 569 farmers had committed suicide in the region while 207 had ended their lives in 2013.
Beed district reported 154 farmer suicides till August 1 this year, followed by 95 in Nanded, 81 in Osmanabad and the least (28) in Jalna district.
Farmer suicides have been steadily climbing this year, with 93 deaths report ed in barely the first 45 days of the year.
A majority of the farmer suicides have been reported from the black-soil areas known for heavy cotton cultivation.
As per primary reports, farmers invest large amounts of money for BT cotton cultivation in the hope of getting a bumper crop. But when the crop fails, the hefty losses lead to a vicious cycle of debt and mortgage with private money lenders.
Government has asked for the loan entries on 7-12 land extracts of the marginal farmers to be deleted. Banks have been asked to go slow on the recovery of dues from farmers. The administration is planning a series of measures to curb the disturbing trend of farmer suicides.
The state had reported 1,300 farmer suicides in the six-month span from January to June this year. The figure has crossed the 1,296 cases recorded in the state in 2013.
