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| 3 Farmer's debt, why? |
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It is said that India achieved self-sufficiency in food grain after the latter half of 1970fs. (One-fourth of people in rural area are living below poverty line though.) The gross area of farmland in India is 166 million hectare. This amount of area holds the second place after USA. This is far beyond the Japanese amount of farmland. But the average farm area per one farmerfs household is 1.41 hectare (1995). Compared with Japanese average it is not so large. Concerned about household expenses in India food expenses account for about half of them. Now India is known as a great industrializing country, while 70% of Indian people are engaged in agriculture. Necessarily if food prices would rise on account of the unseasonable weather for instance, it has a great influence on not only their daily life but on Indian industry. So agriculture is still important for India.
The other day Japanese news paper said Prime Minister Singh visited a rural district where many farmers commit suicide for being deeply in debt. He listened to suffered family and promised to take urgent supports for farmers. According to the paper 600 farmers killed themselves last year in the district of Maharashtra state. Maharashtra state is comparatively wealthy place in India and economic growth is satisfactory. But they say 55% of farmers are in debt in the state. I had read about farmerfs suicide in another Japanese economic magazine before too. They say the cause of suicide depends on exorbitant interest on their loan. Moreover the most of their debt is not from bank but from moneylenders. But, what is the reason farmers have to borrow money?
Under the remarkable developing, Indian society is changing rapidly. The change would reach medical, educational, financial and the other many systems. From far separated Japan I can not grab the clear situation but I guess the increasing gap between city and rural district cause the awful situation. It will take long that many people like farmers in rural area can receive benefit from the economic growth.
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