102 farmers died by suicide in Yavatmal in 2026: Kishor Tiwari

Mumbai: In a disturbing development, as many as 102 farmers died by suicide between January and May 2026 in Yavatmal district in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

“This reflects a complete collapse of the agrarian support system and the government’s failure to protect distressed farmers,” said Kishor Tiwari, founder of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS).

Tiwari alleged that the continuing farmer suicides in Vidarbha were not isolated incidents, but the direct outcome of failed agricultural policies, denial of institutional credit, crop insurance failures, rising cultivation costs and prolonged government neglect.

According to official district administration figures cited by Tiwari, Yavatmal recorded 21 farmer suicides in January, 28 in February, 24 in March, 27 in April and four more cases during the first week of May 2026, totaling 102 suicides so far this year.

According to him, the 102 farmer suicides are not merely numbers, but reflect growing anger and despair in rural India. “If immediate corrective measures are not taken, the situation could lead to widespread social unrest,” Tiwari warned.

Tiwari said that since 2001, Yavatmal district alone has witnessed 6,622 farmer suicides, making it one of the worst agrarian distress regions in the country.

“These are not mere statistics. Every suicide represents the destruction of an entire farming family and reflects the deepening collapse of the rural economy,” said Tiwari, who is based in Pandharkawada in Yavatmal district.

He alleged that many of the deceased farmers had been denied crop loans by banks, excluded from crop insurance compensation and pushed into severe debt due to repeated crop failures and unstable market prices.

“Farmers are being systematically denied institutional support while private debt and economic distress continue to rise. The government cannot escape responsibility for these deaths,” he said.

Tiwari said Yavatmal, located in the drought-prone cotton-growing belt of Vidarbha, remains heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture and continues to suffer from severe irrigation shortages.

He added that rising input costs, expensive BT cotton seeds, lack of assured remunerative prices and the absence of effective crop diversification policies had further intensified the crisis.

Criticising both the Centre and the Maharashtra government, Tiwari said repeated announcements of relief schemes had failed to provide meaningful support at the grassroots level.

“The rural credit system has collapsed, crop insurance mechanisms have lost credibility and agricultural policies are increasingly working against small and marginal farmers,” he alleged.

Tiwari demanded immediate implementation of his proposed “Integrated Farmer Suicide Eradication Programme,” which includes universal access to low-interest crop loans, debt restructuring, guaranteed remunerative prices, transparent crop insurance systems, irrigation expansion projects, direct income support and rehabilitation measures for affected families.

He also demanded that Yavatmal be immediately declared an “Agrarian Disaster District” and warned that continued government inaction could trigger large-scale farmer protests across Vidarbha.