Dongre and Deshmuhkh (2012) studying reasons for farmers’ suicides in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra found that farmers perceived debt, poor prices for farm produce, increased cost of cultivation, poor irrigation facilities, crop failure, governmental apathy, use of chemical fertilizers, and environmental pollution as the reasons for farmer suicides. Mitra and Shroff (2007) observed that the loss of the competitive edge of the Indian cotton farmer after the opening up of India’s agricultural economy in the mid-1990s was a major reason for the increased farmer suicides.

Between January and June 2019, 1300 farmers died by suicide across Maharashtra (Mirror Now 2019). In Yavatmal districtof Vidarbha alone 139 farmers died by suicide. The Prerna Prakalp farmer counseling health service programme was launched by the government and accumulated the existing district mental health programme to address the mental illnesses that play a part in farmers’ suicides. The local volunteers were trained as counsellors and go from village to village to help. Under this project accredited women social health activist volunteers work as health workers and are trained to detect common signs of mental illnesses by going through a 12-question survey.

Aggarwal (2008), a psychiatrist, concluded that farmers in India experience different stresses compared to farmers elsewhere, due to illiteracy, bonded labour system, large families, government corruption, and debts from local money lenders. A responsible farmer suicide task force must address both the biological and the broader social, cultural, political and economic issues. The onus should be shifted from the farmer to the circumstances.

Economic and weather uncertainties lead to farmers’ suicides. The solution is to merge public policy initiatives with civil society engagements (Mishra 2006). Malone (2008) concludes that poverty, alcoholism, drought, and agrarian distress cause farmers’ suicides. Jeromi (2007) argues that economic liberalization without safety nets along with droughts caused indebtedness which caused farmer suicides.

People in the rural areas have limited access to health and mental healthcare services, which can make it difficult for farm and ranch families to receive support when they are experiencing extreme stress, anxiety, depression, or any other mental health crisis. It is due to poor mental health that the farmer would face difficult situation to manage other stressors that are common in their lives. Farmers, ranchers, and their families face high levels of stress, depression, and at times nurture even suicidal thoughts (Rural Health Information Hub, 2019). The mental health message needs to reach more of those in the agricultural community, not just the farmers but also bankers, extension workers, veterinarians, and counsellors. Data showing anxiety and depression are hard to get. During the Ag Media Summit, many nations’ best communicators were told about the mental health needs of farmers and given an insight on how farmer stress can further damage an already wounded agricultural industry (Tipps 2019).

Life on the farm may appear for many non-farm people as a joy apart from the stress of living and working in urban and suburban areas. There appear to be no commuting nightmares, no time schedules, no deadlines, no bosses, and no production quotas. It looks like this attitude of farm life is from a simpler and more peaceful era, a time when people were more with nature and free from modern responsibilities. It is a romantic rural image cultivated by 19th century artists, poets, and writers. Rosmann (2012), an adjunct faculty member at the University of Iowa and a psychologist, who founded Agri Wellness Inc., a non-profit programme that promotes behavioural health research on people affected by economic stresses involved in agriculture, reported suicide rate statistics of several occupations in the US, which shreds the myth of a stress-free life on the farm. The report indicated that individuals involved in agricultural careers including farmers, farm workers, lumber harvesters, ranchers, and fishers had the highest suicide rate of 84.5 per 100,000 people as per the study of 30 standard occupational classification groups The suicide rate for people working in agriculture was much higher than that of military veterans, which was 35.3 per 1,00,000 people. Rosmann observed that there are not enough behavioural health professionals who specialize in working with farm and ranch families. Roth (2017) reported that there are different stressors that farmers face and human beings react differently to stressful situations, while some people do well but others do not.

Guiney (2012) taking data from Victoria, Australia, during the prolonged drought from 2001 to 2007, concluded that farmer suicide rate increased during the period of drought. King et al. (2009) from studies in Australia observed that there were no significant differences between farmers and non-farmers in psychiatric morbidity and that accumulated stress resulting from a combination of factors contribute to farmer suicides. McLaren and Challis (2009) conducted a study on 99 Australian men farmers to investigate the applicability of three models of resiliency for the prediction of suicidal ideation from risk factor such as depression, protective factors such as social support and sense of belonging. They explored the role of social support and sense of belongingness as resilience factors for protection from suicide. A US study revealed a correlation between crop prices and the mental health of farmers (Barratt 2017). Crop prices steadily declined since 2012, leading experts to believe that farmers were the groups with increased risk of depres

The struggles of the farming community are well documented with drought, flooding, disease, and poor crop yields. Often farmers must deal with stress, financial pressure, and difficult work conditions with little human contact for days leading to feeling of isolation. Male farmers are far less likely to discuss personal issues and often suffer in silences. A US study by the National Institute of Health suggested that use of pesticides, which can be inhaled or absorbed through skin, when used on crops is linked to an increased risk of depression (Barratt 2017).

Allen (2019) reported that the main causes for mental health issues amongst farmers were: solitary nature of work and social isolation, long working hours, lack of time off work, time pressures, record keeping and meeting regulatory requirements, aberrant weather, working with multi-generation family members, moving from running a family farm to running a business, lack of access to health and support services, financial worries because of income volatility and debt, hazardous working conditions, e.g. machinery, livestock, and chemicals, and the stigma associated with mental illness preventing people from seeking help.

Murphree and Foster (2019) enumerated the signals emanating from farmers that may be used for diagnosing potential mental health crisis in farmers. These signals are decline in care of crops, animals and farm, deterioration in personal appearance, withdrawing from social events, family and friends, change in mood or routine, increase in farm accidents, giving away priced possessions, calling friends and relatives, making statements such as “I have nothing to live for” and “my family would be better off without me, I do not want to be a burden. Farmers generally manage stress in one of the four ways: (1) Figure, reassess and reassure: always figuring out how to make ends meet; it is going to be good if they can persuade themselves; they can persuade family and loan officers. (2) Distraction: By going and get parts for farm machinery, can ignore troubling issues, or take the day off. (3) Repression: eat, drink or do drugs. (4) Broaden and build: building positive reserves; when times come bad remember the good or fun times, go fishing or camping, or engage in recreational activities.

Many factors are there in agriculture upon which farmers do not have any control. Besides uncertainty of weather, disease outbreaks, and machinery breakdown, one powerful factor is the mindset (Michigan State University Extension 2018). Having the right mindset can help increase productivity and resiliency, so that farmers are prepared to manage farms and families in tough times.