Award-winning Vidarbha farmer dies over irrigation issues

A farmer from western Vidarbha, honoured by the state for his contribution to agriculture, died by suicide on Thursday, his suicide note focusing on the lack of adequate irrigation in this drought-prone region.

- Pradip Kumar Maitra

NAGPUR:

Kailash Nagre, 43, a recipient of Maharashtra's prestigious Adarsha Yuva Shetkari Puruskar (Ideal Young Farmer Award) in 2020, consumed poison and died in his fields in Shivni Armal village in Buldhana district on Thursday morning.

Poor irrigation resulting in crop failure is just one of several factors that have driven Vidarbha's farmers into debt, consistently triggering deaths by suicide in a region gripped by an agrarian crisis. According to Kishore Tiwari, former chairperson of the Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission (VNSSM), a state-appointed body meant to address the agrarian distress in the region, 722 farmers died by suicide in Vidarbha in 2024 alone, an alarming truth that failed to gain traction in both the Lok Sabha and assembly elections last year.

Data from the state government indicates that during the first five months of 2024, one farmer died by suicide in the region almost every day. Amravati district recorded the highest number of such deaths in 2024, at 225, while Yavatmal was second at 200.