The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Green Revolution blamed for farmers' suicide

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 19, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Green Revolution blamed for farmers' suicide

Staff Reporter

It has affected profit margins: economist

BANGALORE: An economist has said that the Green Revolution has been responsible for the large-scale suicide of farmers in the country. High cost of inputs and decreased profit margin, which are mainly responsible for farmers' suicide, are the outcome of the Green Revolution, said S.T. Somashekara Reddy from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

He was speaking at a discussion on "Farmers' suicide and agricultural policies" organised by People's Democratic Forum here on Tuesday.

Stating that farmers' suicide was a global phenomenon, Dr. Somashekara Reddy noted that 2,000 farmers had committed suicide in Australia in the last five years, 1,100 in just three provinces of the U.S. since 1999, and at least one in every month in the United Kingdom.

Green Revolution had resulted in a steep decline of profit margins for farm produce — from 50 per cent in 1970 to just three per cent now, he said. Dr. Somashekara Reddy criticised agricultural scientists for what he said misleading the farmers.

Green Revolution had eroded the traditional gene bank of seeds and made farmers to entirely depend upon the seed companies for seeds, he regretted.

Shivasundar of People's Democratic Forum spoke.

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