In Vidarbha, many farmers will not benefit from the waiver because they possess over two hectares of land. Above, Durpata Bhalerao Ataram, whose husband committed suicide in 2007. DURPATA BHALERAO ATARAM'S land is no longer an asset. It seems like a burden. She has 10 acres of it, but no money to grow a crop. "I'm fed up. After investing so much money and effort on the land, we barely get enough to eat. Next year, I am going to lease it out and work as a farm labourer,' says Durpata, a widow from Burgavan village in Yavatmal district in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Durpata's husband killed himself last year. Now, her two young sons help her with the farm. "There was no rain when he sowed the crop the first time, so he had to sow twice. The expenses were high. The tension was too much for him. He had borrowed Rs.40,000 from the moneylender to get our daughter married, and Rs.50,000 from the bank for the farm,' says Durpata. She is not going to benefit from the farm-loan waiver announced as part of the Union Budget. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram announced that four crore farmers would have their loans worth Rs.60,000 crore waived. The waiver is only for farmers who own less than two hectares of land. Many widows and poor farmers such as Durpata have been excluded from the waiver in Vidarbha, which has the highest rate of farmers' suicides in the country. On the day Chidambaram made the announcement, 10 farmers in Vidarbha committed suicide. In this largely cotton-growing region, 1,242 cases of suicide were reported last year