THE ILL-FATED farmers are Gajanan Sawant of Pangara Pole in Buldhana, Anata Bhilange of Nivana in Buldhana, Vithoba Munde of Sonasi in Buldhana, Gajanan Kavate of Palodi in Akola, Devrao Nimbolkar in asola in Akola, Sukhadev Pawar of amadi in Yavatmal, Ashok Chintelwar of karegoan (bandal) in Yavatmal, Ramesh Tekam of Mangarda in Yavatmal, and 9.Dadarao Nage of Lohgoan in Amaravati.

Kishor Tiwari, president of Nagpur-based Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, (VJAS), activist group working for cotton farmer rights informed this in a press release. A progressive young farmer ended his life by climbing on an electric pole and touching a live wire at Pangra Dole village in Lonar taluka, Buldhana district, on Wednesday. Gajanan Sawant (28), a marginal farmer who owned two acres of land, died as soon as he came in contact with the live wire. He failed to bear the loan burden and took the extreme step. Ashok Chintelwar was facing crop failure after his Bt.cotton lost in last week sun outrage. Whereas Ramesh Tekam, a debt-trapped tribal farmer committed suicide after police tortured him in case of motor pump theft.

The National Crime Records Bureau’s latest report on ‘Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India’ places the number for 2010 at 15,964. That brings the cumulative 16-year total from 1995 — when the NCRB started recording farm suicide data — to 2,56,913, the worst-ever recorded wave of suicides of this kind in human history

Maharashtra posts a dismal picture with over 50,000 farmers killing themselves in the country's richest State in that period. It also remains the worst state for such deaths for a decade now. Close to two-thirds of all farm suicides have occurred in five States: Maharashtra, Karnataka, A.P., Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.Nine more debt trapped cotton farmers suicides reported in last 72 hours from the dying field of west vidarbha taking toll to 662 in year 2011.

Tiwary said Maharashtra's story is alarming. It saw 20,066 farmers kill themselves between 1995 and 2002. That stands dwarfed by the 30,415 farmers who took their lives in the next eight years. The latter period saw an annual average increase of nearly 1,155 such deaths in the state. A local leading daily reported that around 15 lakh Hector Bt.cotton crop has been lost in six districts of west Vidarbha, and in Maharashtra most of Bt.cotton crop has been damaged due to delayed rain and erratic weather conditions. Mahrashtra is the state where Bt.cotton has crossed 50 lakhs hector this year out of which more than 35 lakhs hector is purely dry land area where rainy water is only source. Initially, the Maharashtra government expected yield of cotton was around 450 lakhs quintal that has been revised to 300 lakhs quintal but prevailing crop condition and severe damage to Bt. Cotton crop in region average yield likely to be dropped by 50 per cent.