Farmers' Suicides in Andhra Pradesh, India

Andhra Pradesh is called as rice bowl of India. The deltas formed by the most important rivers of the Godavari and the Krishna make up the central part of the plains, an area of fertile alluvial soil. Thus, agriculture plays an immensely important role not only in the economy but also for achieving the food security for the state and also for the country. Andhra Pradesh is one of the leading rice-growing states in the country and is a major producer of India’s tobacco. The main challenges of agriculture are, growing water scarcity, degrading natural resources like land and decreasing per capita availability of land and water resources. The large number of suicides by farmers is perhaps the most distressing phenomenon observed in Andhra Pradesh over the last decade. The main reasons behind farmer’s suicide could be lack of money, financial problems, carrying the burden of debt, extreme crop failure due to natural calamities etc. The paper presents the number of farmer’s suicides, distribution in different districts and reasons thereof in Andhra Pradesh.