Marathwada region of central Maharashtra recorded 269 farmer suicides from January to March (2025)

The Central Maharashtra region comprises eight districts and is considered a semi-arid zone characterised by water scarcity owing to low rainfall and monsoon variability

The Marathwada region of Maharashtra has recorded 269 farmer suicides between January and March, which is a surge from the 204 such deaths registered in the same period last year, according to a report from the divisional commissioner office in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

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The Central Maharashtra region comprises eight districts and is considered a semi-arid zone characterised by water scarcity owing to low rainfall and monsoon variability.

According to news agency PTI, Beed district recorded a notable rise in farmer suicides — from 44 in January-March 2024 to 71 in the first three months of this year, said the report.

A total of 204 farmer suicides were recorded in Marathwada in the first quarter of 2024. The number rose by 65 to reach 269 in just the first three months of the current year, the report further stated.

Of the eight districts, Beed reported the highest number of suicides (71), followed by Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (50), Nanded (37), Parbhani (33), Dharashiv (31), Latur (18), Hingoli ( 16) and Jalna (13), PTI reported.

Raju Shetti, the president of farmer outfit Shetkari Sanghatana, lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti government over the surge in the farmer suicides and demanded a waiver of agricultural loans, PTI reported.

Talking to PTI, he said, "The government promised to waive loans of farmers in the state during the last year's assembly election campaign, but they did not do it. This was like cheating farmers."

The former lawmaker also reflected on the factors leading to small and marginal tillers taking their own lives.

"The per hectare yield of crops like cotton, soybean has gone down. On the other hand, input costs for these crops have gone up. If we talk about soybean, the farmers in Maharashtra have faced a loss of nearly Rs 8,500 crore as they sold their crop below the MSP (minimum support price) at Rs 1,200 per quintal in the last season," Shetti noted.

The Centre had declared the MSP for soybean for the 2024-25 season at Rs 4,892 per quintal.

Farmer leader and the ex-MP Raju Shetti has slammed the Maharashtra government for failing to deliver its election promises to framers, including the promised loan waiver, and has raised concerns over the ruling administration's expenditure on VIP visits, reported news agency PTI.

Earlier, on April 22, while speaking to the reporters in Nashik, Shetti said that the government's policies were "anti-farmer".

"What happened to the loan waiver that the Mahayuti government announced before the elections (last year)?" he had questioned.

(With PTI inputs)

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