Cotton farmer commits suicide in Rajkot

Nilesh Kansagra, sarpanch of Nani Vavdi village said Vikram and his two brothers jointly own 3.5 bigha of land. But since the size of the farm is small, Vikram alone was cultivating it. The eldest of the three brothers runs a paan shop in the village while the second brother is a share-cropper.

“Vikram was not indebted but he had told me 10 days ago that he was worried as cotton crop on his farm is almost complete failure. There has been a very little rain in our village this monsoon and therefore, cotton crop has failed,” the sarpanch told The Indian Express over phone.

Kansagra further said that Vikram is survived by his parents, wife and two daughters, eldest of whom is 17-year-old. “Crops had failed last year as well in our region and due second successive poor monsoon, farmers are in distress. We hope the government declares crop failure officially and award crop insurance early,” added the sarpanch.

However, police said the reason of Pithiya’s suicide was unknown and that they were yet to record statement of his family-members.
This second case of suicide by a farmer in Saurashtra region in as many weeks due to alleged crop failure.

A farmer in Bhesan taluka of Junagadh district had allegedly committed suicide after his groundnut crop allegedly failed due to scanty rainfall.