In 2023, at least one person working in agriculture in India took their own life every hour, according to a report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). A total of 10,786 people from the farming sector, including both farmers and agricultural labourers, committed suicide last year, accounting for 6.3% of the country’s total 171,418 suicides.
Maharashtra reported the highest number of suicides, with 38.5% of the cases, followed by Karnataka at 22.5%, Andhra Pradesh at 8.6%, Madhya Pradesh at 7.2%, and Tamil Nadu at 5.9%. Among the farmers who died by suicide, 4,553 were men and 137 were women, while the agricultural labourers included 6,096 individuals.
Several states and union territories, including West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Lakshadweep, reported no suicides among farmers or agricultural labourers. Uttarakhand, which had reported zero suicides in 2022, recorded cases in 2023.
Rahul Sharma, an agriculture policy expert told the New Indian Express, “These numbers show the immense stress and economic pressure farmers and farm workers continue to face. Despite government schemes, many are still struggling to make ends meet.”
The total number of suicides in the farming sector has slightly decreased compared to 2022, when 11,290 farm workers took their own lives, but the NCRB report noted that the intensity of the crisis and the states affected remained largely the same. Across the country, overall suicides rose by 0.3% in 2023 compared to the previous year.
“This is not just statistics,” said Meera Patil, a social activist working with rural communities. “Each number represents a family shattered by despair, highlighting the urgent need for better support systems and financial relief for those who feed the nation.”
