6 farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha

Nagpur, Oct 26: At least six farmers committed suicide on the eve of Diwali festival in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, activists said on Sunday, Oct 26.

According to Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), a voluntary organisation working among farmers in the region, the farmers who took the extreme step included one each from Wardha, Chandrapur, Akola, Bhandara, Yavatmal and Amravati districts. With this, the number of farmers who have ended their lives in 2008 has touched 626, VJAS said in a press release. The farmers had ended their lives because of the widespread damage to standing crop of cotton, soyabean and paddy, due to the advent of pests, the press release said.

The farmers in the region are also depressed because private traders were purchasing cotton much below the minimum support price (MSP), it added.

UNI