8 farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha in 3 days

Nagpur, Oct 3 (UNI) At least eight farmers have committed suicide over the last three days in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, farmers' activists said today.

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

Farmers in Vidarbha were in dire straits because of the advent of pests on the standing crop of soyabean and cotton, a VJAS press release said.

The farmers had lost nearly half of their produce to pests, VJAS said, and warned that the agrarian crisis in the region would worsen unless the government stepped in and initiated corrective measures.

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