Write a short note on farmers' suicide from 1997 to 2006.
Farmers' Suicide from 1997 to 2006: The spate of farmers suicides that has been occurring in the different parts of the country since 1997-98 can be linked to the ‘agrarian distress’ caused by structural changes in agriculture and changes in economic and agricultural policies. These include: the changed pattern of landholdings; changing cropping patterns especially due to the shift to cash crops; liberalisation policies that have exposed Indian agriculture cropping patterns especially due to the shift to cash crops; liberalisation policies that have exposed Indian agriculture to the forces of globalisation; heavy dependence on high-cost inputs; the withdrawal of the state from agricultural extension activities to be replaced by multinational seed and fertiliser compaines; decline in state support for agriculture; and individualisation of agricultural operations. According to official statistics, there have been 8,900 suicides by farmers between 2001 and 2006 in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra.
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