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ShareBhubaneswar: As many as 3,509 farmers have committed suicide in Orissa in the past 11 years, the state government said today.
Replying to an adjournment motion on unabated suicide of farmers in the state, agriculture minister Damodar Rout said in the assembly that social factors were mostly the reasons for such extreme steps. All farmers did not commit suicide due to crop loss, he said.
The highest number of 418 farmers committed suicide in 1998, Rout said, adding that suicide among farmers was less than that of other sections of the society.
"A total of 48,631 people committed suicide in the state from 1997 to 2008. The number of farmer suicide was 3,509 during the period," Rout said.
Stating that 73% of the state's population earn their livelihood from cultivation, he said that most of the farmers committed suicide due to reasons like family disputes.
"This is a grave situation. Therefore, all members including those in the opposition should suggest measures to the government for the socio-economic development of the community (farmers)," Rout said.
