Farmer Suicides and Its Causes: A Survey of Various Causes through Bibliometric Analysis

The farmer suicides can be considered as the manifestation of agrarian distress in rural India. The growers in various states as well as crops are affected by this distress in the agricultural sector. The farmers and agriculture have always been glorified by the political system, mainly because of the sheer dominance of workforce engaged by the sector. The recent times, especially post 1991 one can see the phenomenon of farmer suicides across the country. This paper is an attempt in understanding the crisis affecting the farming sector by analyzing the existing studies in this area. It also seeks to understand the various reasons which lead a farmer to take this drastic step. The study uses bibliometric analysis to understand the trends and tendencies of these studies as well as to understand the reasons. The first part of the paper provides a conceptual framework linking farmer suicides with agrarian distress from the existing studies. Many of the studies point to the indebtedness among farmers as major reasons for suicides. The second part involves use of bibliometric analysis to understand the issue.