JEYPORE: Mounting debt and crop loss led a ginger farmer of Malimarla village under Pottangi police limits in Koraput district to end his life on Friday. It is for the first time that a ginger farmer of the tribal region committed suicide due to debt burden.
The farmer, Balaram Guntha, consumed pesticide on Thursday night when all the family members had gone to sleep. Hearing his screams, the family members rushed him to local hospital and later to Kunduli. As his condition deteriorated, Guntha was shifted to Koraput Medical College and Hospital where he succumbed on Friday.
Guntha’s family members said he took the extreme step due to crop loss and fear of repaying the debt which he had availed for raising ginger crop.
The 35-year-old farmer had cultivated ginger on five acres and paddy on three acres for which he had taken a loan of `1 lakh from different financial institutions. The recent rains in Pottangi submerged his fields and most of the crop was damaged. Guntha had approached local Agriculture Department and tehsil office seeking relief against the damage but in vain.
Finding no option to repay the loan after the crop damage, Guntha took the extreme step, family members said.
Meanwhile, Pottangi police started an inquiry into the matter. Last year, three farmers committed suicide over crop failure and loan burden in Jeypore and Koraput sub-divisions which had rocked the entire State.
Sources said over 1,500 farmers of Pottangi block had cultivated ginger on about 2,000 acres of land by taking loans from different sources but most of the crops got damaged due to heavy rains in the last two months in the region. The district administration is yet to declare any subsidy or financial help to the affected farmers.