Bengaluru, Jul 27 (DHNS): The saga of farmer suicides is assuming serious proportions in the State, with 14 deaths reported on Saturday and Sunday.

Srinivas, 36, and his wife Kalavathi, 27, hanged themselves to death from a blackberries tree at Talakere village in Turuvekere taluk of Tumakuru district. The couple is survived by a eight-year-old daughter. They were under pressure from debtors to repay loans. The borewell that they had got drilled in their farm had failed.

Financial problems drove three farmers to suicide in Maddur taluk of Mandya district. Ramesh, 37, of Konasale village and K Murthy, 55, of Kudaragundi village hanged themselves to death. Ramesh was into sericulture and had also grown sugar cane. Murthy had grown ragi and other crops. Jayaramu, 40, of Valagerehalli jumped to death into a tank.

Ramaiah, a 50-year-old farmer from Hulivan in Mandya taluk hanged himself to death at his farm on Saturday night.

Chikkanaika, 40, committed suicide by consuming poison at Chakahalli in H D Kote taluk, Mysuru district.

Siddesh, a 22-year-old farmer from Tippareddyhalli in Challakere taluk of Chitradurga district killed himself by consuming poison. His crops failed due to the failure of four borewells in his farm and he could not reclaim gold ornaments that he had pledged in a bank. This led him to the extreme step.

A debt-ridden farmer committed suicide by hanging himself, at Hullehalli in Birur hobli of Chikkamagaluru district on Sunday. The deceased is G Thimmanna (55). He owns 2.16 acres of arid land.

The farmer had availed loans from a bank and also by pledging gold ornaments for agriculture. Scanty rainfall had affected the crops grown by him. All the three borewells drilled in the field had failed to yield water. He had sown ground nut, sunflower and maize seeds

Shivaputrappa Yatnal, 55, killed himself by consuming poison at Madidoddikoppa village in Sorab taluk of Shimoga district on Sunday.

He had eight acres of land and had taken up, paddy banana and areca cultivation last year.

He had borrowed a loan of Rs three lakh from Pragathi Krishna Gramin Bank and Rs four lakh from private moneylenders.

Out of three borewells dug last year, one had failed. Though there was enough water for paddy cultivation, the yield was less due to irregular power supply. So, he could not repay the loans.

Debt-ridden farmer Shivappa Kariyannavar, 28, committed suicide by consuming poison at Chikkayadachi village near Rattehalli in Hirekerur taluk of Haveri district on Saturday night. He had grown ginger and cowpeas on his farm, with Rs one lakh taken as loan from moneylenders and Rs 40,000 borrowed from self help groups.

Sidramappa Siddappa Handi, 70, fell to his death into a tank, unable to repay farm loans of over Rs two lakh, at Jigalur village in Ron taluk of Gadag district.

A 48-year-old farmer committed suicide, unable to repay loans of Rs four lakh, Pethalur village in Mundargi taluk of Gadag district. The deceased is Ravindra Shivappa Koppada.

Hanumanthu, 38, of Gunda village in Sindhanur taluk of Raichuir district committed suicide by consuming pesticide on Sunday. He was unable to begin sowing on his arid land due to failure of rain. He had taken loans for agriculture purposes.

Attempt to suicide

Fakirappa Ramanna Shirigeri, 40, of Ganeshpur village in Mudgod taluk of Uttara Kannada, attempted suicide by poured kerosene over himself and setting himself ablaze at his house on Sunday. His family members rushed him to the local government hospital. From there, he was taken to the KIMS hospital in Hubballi. He has suffered 40 per cent burns.

CM to lead all-party delegation to Centre

The State government will take an all-party delegation to the prime minister to apprise him of the farmers’ plight in Karnataka, Minister for Co-operation H S Mahadeva Prasad has said.

Addressing a press meet in Haveri on Sunday, the minister said that the delegation, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would bring agrarian crisis and farmers’ distress to the notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It would also seek more Central funds to tackle the problem. The minister said that the State government would provide jobs to an eligible family member of the farmers who have committed suicide. A total of 962 cases had been registered in the State on the charge of levying exorbitant interest till now, he disclosed. Hitting out at the Union government, Prasad said that the BJP had cut funds for several welfare schemes including job guarantee programme, Nabard assistance to co-operative banks and even support price for agricultural produce.

“A majority of the Lok Sabha members from Karnataka belong to the BJP. Let them list out the measures taken by their government at the Centre to ameliorate the plight of farmers,” Prasad said.