by Jason Motlagh, San Francisco Chronicle Foreign Service.
While India’s economy surges forward on the crest of globalization, thousands of farmers are taking their own lives every year to escape mounting debt and an uncertain future. … at least 87,567 farmers committed suicide between 2002 and 2006.
In the 1960s, India underwent a green revolution in favor of high-yield farming to counter acute food shortages. Plant breeding, irrigation development and the use of synthetic fertilizers ramped up production. Today, India is a major exporter of rice, and the world’s second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables after the United States.
The changes caused higher operating costs and production that created a market glut exceeding demand at home and abroad. To remain in business, many farmers were forced to take out loans at high interest rates. Once credit had been exhausted, they turned to private lenders, who charged even more exorbitant interest rates.
And that’s when the suicides started, most activists say.
Such price volatility is a function of globalization, most critics say - and is especially unstable for cotton farmers. As the world’s largest cotton producer, the United States provides massive subsidies that allow American farmers to undercut overseas competition by selling at an artificially low cost.
Moreover, many Indian farmers are now using genetically engineered Bt cotton seeds made by U.S.-based Monsanto Co., which produce higher yields. The seeds and fertilizer, however, must be bought each year, costing farmers thousands of dollars.
