5 farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha: VJAS

Nagpur, Aug 24 (UNI) As many as five debt-ridden farmers, including a woman, committed suicide over the past two days in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, farm activists said today.

According to Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), a voluntary organisation working among farmers in the region, the farmers who took the extreme step included two from Yavatmal district and one each from Akola, Amravati and Washim districts.

The situation of the farmers in Vidarbha had aggravated because of the attack of pests on standing crop, especially of soyabean and cotton, cultivated in an area of 36 lakh hectares, the press release claimed. VJAS has urged the government to release an assistance of Rs 5,000 per acre to the distressed farmers.

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