Rain conjures hope in Maharashtra's Marathwada region. Its eight districts are predominantly rainfed and are among the most drought-prone areas in the country.
Monsoon failures and chronic farmer suicides bring the region national notoriety. This year, the monsoon season was different. The region received bountiful rains, and yet farmers lost their crops; scores of them even took their lives.
Between July and September, 4.5 million farmers in Marathwada saw rain wash away their standing crops from 0.38 million hectares (ha), an area more than double the size of Delhi, informs the office of divisional commissioner at Aurangabad, Maharashtra. Even before the news of crop loss could spread, in June, 108 farmers in Marathwada died by suicide. July saw 83 suicides, while August reported the highest 114 suicides and September 90 such incidences.
This means three farmers from the region died by suicide every day during this monsoon season.
The situation was particularly acute in Maharashtra's Nanded district, which saw a two-fold rise in farmer suicides during the monsoon season-eight farmers died by suicide in July, 26 in August and 22 in September. This was the highest spike in farmers' suicides in the region, which coincided with the monsoon's erratic progress that oscillated between dry and wet spells.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Nanded received 135 per cent and 501 per cent excess rainfall in the fourth week of June and first week of July, respectively. The trend continued in the second (210 per cent excess) and third weeks (67 per cent excess) of July. Farmers usually sow seeds in early June, and excess rain destroyed most of the saplings.
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