Suicides continue in the land of white gold. It has been 8 two months since Finance Minister P. Chidambaram announced a Rs 60,000-crore loan waiver for farmers. It was meant to prevent debt-ridden ryots from committing suicide. But in Vidarbha, where a large number of cotton farmers have committed suicide, the script has not changed. More than 100 farmers have killed themselves since March, after the loan waiver. Even Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was puzzled. He recently said in Nagpur that suicides in other states had decreased considerably, but not in Vidarbha. "We are concerned. We will ask the state government to probe further for reasons," Pawar said. The reason lay in the loan waiver criteria. The desperate farmers of Vidarbha owned more than two hectares of land, which made them ineligible for the waiver, and they borrowed from private moneylenders other than banks. One of them, Baban Jeughale, of Varvand village, set fire to the haystack in his field and jumped into the flames. He owned 10 acres, after having sold four acres for his daughter Sulochana's wedding. "He got Rs 60,000 per acre," recalled Vilas, his son. When Baban's younger daughter, Kavita, wanted to do a diploma in education, he failed to raise Rs 2 lakh for her admission in a private college. "Father was hurt and felt very guilty," said Vilas. Baban had borrowed Rs 60,000 from a nationalised bank. Last year, because of untimely rains, his urad and moong crops were affected. The yield was just about three quintals each. His jowar yield also was bad at five quintals. "We got 25 quintals of soya bean last year," said Baban's cousin Dattatray. "Since soya prices had plunged last season, Baban decided to sell it at Rs 1,400 per quintal. Unfortunately for him, the prices soared to Rs 2,100 in March 2008. He was very depressed." This notional loss was the last straw for Baban. "The fact that he would not benefit from the loan waiver made it worse. He ended his life in the most gruesome manner," said Dattatray. Ashok Khairatkar of Yavatmal district held 10 acres. He borrowed Rs 50,000 from a nationalised bank and Rs 10,000 from Yavatmal district central cooperative bank. After his crops failed for a fourth year, Ashok killed himself. In neighbouring Amravati district, Vishwanath Rahat, a farmer who had eight acres, ended his life when his wife was away on a pilgrimage. He had a loan of Rs 20,000 from the local cooperative credit society. Baban, Ashok and Vishwanath had enough land to subsist. Their farming essentially depended on the monsoon. They could have only Kharif crop, while the entire Rabi season was wasted, as they lacked irrigation. Loans were the traps they fell into, and waivers never came to their rescue. "Irrigation and proper price for our products are the solutions to end crisis in Vidarbha," said Arun Jeughale, another farmer from Baban's village. "A farmer gets just Rs 4,000-5,000 per acre as loan. An acre of soya bean needs an input of Rs 8,000-9,000. And lack of irrigation restricts the yield to about 4-5 quintals. So even if we sell it at Rs 2,200 a quintal, we can just about cover costs. And if we sell it at Rs 1,400, like Baban did, we end up with a loss," Arun explained the economics of their misery. According to a report by Maharashtra cooperation department, farmers in Vidarbha would drawreliefworthRs2,027crore, while those in western Maharashtra