Bolangir: A farmer died by suicide late Tuesday night after consuming pesticide on his farmland. The farmer took the drastic step after he suffered crop losses due to a pest attack, police said Wednesday. Fearing a huge debt, Ramesh Bhoi, 50, a resident of Bubel village under Puintala block and the same police limits took a drastic step. Family members and villagers rescued him and took him to the Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital (BBMCH) where he succumbed during treatment. Locals said Bhoi had grown paddy on 10 acres of land this season.
However, he failed to get a good yield after brown hopper pests attacked the crops grown on seven out of 10 acres of land. He applied pesticide thrice on his crops but it did not work. Villagers added that he had borrowed Rs 5 lakh to raise the crops. He suffered huge losses due to the pest attack and went into acute depression, family members said. Ramesh consumed pesticides while working on his farmland. His brothers Jaybharat and Ashok alleged that for the last few days, Ramesh was very disturbed. Police registered a case over a complaint filed by his brothers and handed over the body to them after conducting a postmortem. Ramesh is survived by his wife Khirodri and two sons. Ramesh’s brothers alleged that despite repeated appeals to the Agriculture department, he did not get any help. They informed he purchased pesticide from the open market at a high price and applied it to his crops but failed to undo the damage caused by the pest attack. “It has become a common tragic story of paddy farmers in Odisha who take loans, grow paddy, spray pesticide but lose their crop to pests, then consume poison, die, and the same story continues,” alleged one of the brothers of the deceased.
On being informed, Loisingha MLA Mukesh Mahaling and Chief District Agriculture Officer (CDAO) Subhash Chandra Behera met the bereaved family. Behera informed that he had inspected the farmland and there was no sign of a pest attack.
