Executive Summary:
This document is the response to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4293 regarding farmer suicides due to agricultural debt, answered on August 19, 2025. It provides data on agricultural credit, addresses the link between farm debt and suicides, and explains the government's position on loan waivers and long-term measures to support farmers. The document includes annexures with data on outstanding agricultural credit and a list of government schemes for farmers' welfare.
Key Points / Main Content:
Agricultural Debt:
* As of March 31, 2025, agricultural credit outstanding details, including small and marginal farmers, are provided in Annexure I.
Farm Indebtedness and Suicides:
* The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles suicide information, but its reports do not assess the link between farm indebtedness and suicides.
* Reasons for suicides are wide-ranging and not detailed in the NCRB report.
* Ex-gratia or relief is provided by State Governments as per State provisions rules as Agriculture is a State Subject
Government Initiatives:
* There is no current proposal for a comprehensive one-time farm loan waiver.
* The Government of India supplements state efforts through policy measures, budgetary support, and various schemes to enhance farmer welfare.
* Budget allocation for the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DAFW) has increased from Rs. 21933.50 crore in 2013-14 to Rs. 1,27,290.16 crore in 2025-26.
* Government schemes aim to increase production, provide remunerative returns, and offer income support.
* Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for crops have been increased with a minimum return of 50% over the cost of production since 2018-19.
* Annexure II lists Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored Schemes implemented by DAFW.
Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS):
* The government implements the 100% centrally funded MISS to provide concessional interest rates on short-term agricultural loans via Kisan Credit Cards (KCC).
* Farmers receive KCC loans at a 7% subsidized interest rate.
* An upfront interest subvention (IS) of 1.5% is provided to financial institutions.
* Prompt repayment incentives (PRI) reduce the effective interest rate to 4% per annum for loan limits up to Rs. 3 Lakhs.
* For loans for allied activities other than crop husbandry, the loan amount is limited to Rs. 2 Lakhs.
Impact Analysis:
Farmers:
* Impact: Affected by credit availability, interest rates on loans, income support schemes, and MSP for crops.
* Action Required: Utilize available schemes like KCC, PM-KISAN, and others to improve income and manage agricultural debt.
State Governments:
* Impact: Responsible for agriculture development within their states and for providing ex-gratia relief to farmers.
* Action Required: Implement appropriate measures for agricultural development and provide relief as per state provisions.
Financial Institutions:
* Impact: Involved in providing agricultural credit and administering the Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS).
* Action Required: Provide concessional interest rates on short-term agricultural loans through KCC and facilitate the benefits of IS and PRI to eligible farmers.
Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DAFW):
* Impact: Responsible for formulating and implementing policies and schemes for the welfare of farmers.
* Action Required: Continue to implement and monitor various schemes and programs to increase production, provide remunerative returns, and offer income support to farmers.
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD):
* Impact: Responsible for providing data on agricultural credit outstanding.
* Action Required: Continue to monitor and report on agricultural credit outstanding.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare: The Indian government ministry responsible for agriculture and farmers' welfare.
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development NABARD: An apex development finance institution in India responsible for promoting sustainable and equitable agriculture and rural development.
National Crime Records Bureau NCRB: A government agency responsible for collecting and analyzing crime data in India.
Maharashtra: A state in India, mentioned in the context of agrarian suicides.
Punjab: A state in India, mentioned in the context of agrarian suicides.
Karnataka: A state in India, mentioned in the context of agrarian suicides.
West Bengal: A state in India, mentioned in the context of agrarian suicides.
Modified lnterest Subvention Scheme MISS: A Central Sector Scheme to provide concessional interest rates on short-term agricultural loans through Kisan Credit Cards KCC.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4293
TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 19TH AUGUST, 2025
FARMER’S SUICIDE DUE TO AGRICULTURAL DEBT
4293. MS MAHUA MOITRA:
Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ(cid:874)ष एव ं (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण
म(cid:287)ं ी be pleased to state:
(a) the current outstanding agricultural debt in the country, including data on formal
and informal borrowings by small and marginal farmers, State-wise;
(b) whether the Government has assessed the link between escalating farm
indebtedness and agrarian suicides, particularly in States like Maharashtra, Punjab,
Karnataka, and West Bengal;
(c) whether the Government proposes a comprehensive, one-time farm loan waiver
for small and marginal farmers to alleviate rural distress, alongside long-term measures
to ensure affordable institutional credit and prevent debt traps; and
(d) if not, the reasons for rejecting this demand despite persistent farmer protests and
evidence of deepening rural economic distress?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
कृ(cid:874)ष एव ं (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण रा(cid:207)य म(cid:287)ं ी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)
(a): As per National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the
details of agriculture credit outstanding, as on 31st March, 2025 (provisional) including
small and marginal farmers is given at Annexure-I.
(b): The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under the Ministry of Home Affairs
compiles and disseminates information on suicides in its publication titled ‘Accidental
Deaths and Suicides in India’ (ADSI). The report till 2022 is available on NCRB website
(https://ncrb.gov.in). However, the ADSI reports do not provide any assessment regarding
the link between escalating farm indebtedness and agrarian suicides. The reasons for
suicides are wide ranging and not detailed in the report. Agriculture is a State Subject,
Ex-gratia or relief is provided by State Governments as per State provisions & rules.(c) & (d): At present, there is no proposal from the Department of Agriculture and Farmers
Welfare for a comprehensive one-time farm loan waiver for small and marginal farmers.
Agriculture being a State Subject, the State Governments take appropriate measures for
development of agriculture in the State. However, Government of India is committed to
enhance the welfare of farmers and making agriculture more remunerative. Government of
India supplements the efforts of States through appropriate policy measures and budgetary
support and various schemes/ programmes. Government has adopted and implemented
several policies, reforms, developmental programmes and schemes for achieving higher
incomes for the farmers directly or indirectly and making it a profitable business. The
Government has substantially enhanced the budget allocation of Department of Agriculture
& Farmers Welfare(DA&FW) from Rs. 21933.50 crore BE during 2013-14 to Rs. 1,27,290.16
crore BE during 2025-26. The various schemes/ programmes of the Government of India
are meant for the welfare of farmers by increasing production, remunerative returns and
income support to farmers. These schemes encompass entire spectrum of agriculture
including credit, insurance, income support, infrastructure, crops including horticulture,
seeds, mechanization, marketing, organic and natural farming, farmer collectives, irrigation,
extension, procurement of crops from farmers at minimum support prices, digital agriculture
etc. Additionally, Government had increased MSPs for all mandated Kharif, Rabi and other
Commercial crops with a minimum return of 50 percent over all India weighted average cost
of production from 2018-19 onwards. List of Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored
Schemes being implemented by Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) is
given in Annexure-II.
Further, to improve credit access and reduce rural distress over the long term, the
government is implementing a 100% centrally funded Central Sector Scheme known as the
Modified lnterest Subvention Scheme (MISS) across various States and UTs in pan lndia.
This scheme aims to provide concessional interest rates on short-term agricultural loans
obtained by farmers through Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) for their working capital
requirements. Due to KCC-MISS scheme access to easy and affordable credit has
increased significantly to farmers to meet their operational needs. Under this scheme,
farmers receive KCC loans at a subsidized interest rate of 7%. To facilitate this, an up front
interest subvention (IS) of 1.5% is provided to financial institutions. Additionally, farmers who
repay their loans promptly receive a 3% Prompt Repayment Incentive (PRI), effectively
reducing the interest rate to 4% per annum. The benefits of IS and PRI are available for loan
limits up to Rs. 3 Lakhs. However, if the short-term loan is taken for allied activities (other
than crop husbandry), the loan amount is limited to Rs. 2 Lakhs only.Annexure-I
STATEMENT IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.
4293 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19/08/2025 REGARDING ‘FARMER’S SUICIDE DUE
TO AGRICULTURAL DEBT’.
Agriculture Credit Outstanding as on 31 March 2025 (Provisional), Rs. crore
Total loans to Total loans
Sr. No State/UT
Agriculture pertaining to SF/MF
1. Chhattisgarh 29,290.78 9,780.87
2. Madhya Pradesh 162,385.12 56,909.95
3. Uttar Pradesh 228,560.29 132,352.68
4. Uttarakhand 15,178.97 6,154.99
Central region 435,415.16 205,198.48
5. A and N Island 278.88 136.69
6. Bihar 95,578.07 55,284.62
7. Jharkhand 20,421.63 9,933.52
8. Odisha 79,329.98 51,796.08
9. West Bengal 86,033.70 48,079.25
Eastern Region 281,642.26 165,230.16
10. Arunachal Pradesh 491.44 261.96
11. Assam 20,803.77 12,714.60
12. Manipur 1,255.76 861.96
13. Meghalaya 1,053.75 892.20
14. Mizoram 1,439.38 920.95
15. Nagaland 750.32 564.29
16. Sikkim 385.19 152.42
17. Tripura 4,267.09 3,509.32
North Eastern Region 30,446.70 19,877.70
18. Chandigarh UT 2,536.30 344.88
19. Delhi 26,749.61 11,358.83
20. Haryana 99,026.93 28,737.58
21. Himachal Pradesh 14,293.23 9,984.34
22. Jammu and Kashmir 11,716.59 6,440.52
23. Ladakh 349.78 234.70
24. Punjab 104,353.28 46,666.88
25. Rajasthan 187,322.27 91,604.78
Northern Region 446,347.99 195,372.50
26. Andhra Pradesh 308,716.83 211,657.36
27. Karnataka 222,301.82 114,942.85
28. Kerala 152,198.71 110,652.43
29. Lakshadweep UT 33.61 28.92
30. Puducherry 18,535.99 4,328.22
31. Tamil Nadu 403,367.45 268,927.94
32. Telangana 144,346.41 93,316.54
Southern Region 1,249,500.82 803,854.26
33. D and N Haveli UT 171.33 58.69
34. Daman and Diu UT 108.43 46.15
35. Goa 2,016.40 1,143.15
36. Gujarat 144,330.45 65,585.97
37. Maharashtra 260,799.90 134,659.71
Western Region 407,426.51 201,493.68
Grand Total 2,850,779.43 1,591,026.77
Source: NABARDAnnexure II
STATEMENT IN REPLY TO PART (c) & (d) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION
NO. 4293 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19/08/2025 REGARDING ‘FARMER’S SUICIDE
DUE TO AGRICULTURAL DEBT’.
Major schemes/programmes meant for the welfare of farmers by increasing
production, remunerative returns and income support to the farmers:
1. National Food Security and Nutrition Mission (NFSNM)
2. National Mission on Edible Oils (NMEO)-Oil Palm
3. National Mission on Edible Oils (NMEO)-Oilseeds
4. National Mission on Natural Farming (NMNF)
5. Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)
6. Soil Health & Fertility (SH&F)
7. Rainfed Area Development (RAD)
8. Agroforestry
9. Crop Diversification Programme (CDP)
10. Sub-Mission on Agriculture Extension (SMAE)
11. Sub-Mission on Seed and Planting Material (SMSP)
12. Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)
13. National Bamboo Mission
14. National Bee Keeping and Honey Mission (NBHM)
15. Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region
16. Per Drop More Crop (PDMC)
17. Integrated Scheme for Agriculture Marketing (ISAM)
18. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)
19. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY)
20. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)/ Restructured Weather Based Crop
Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS)
21. Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA)
22. Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS)
23. Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF)
24. Formation and Promotion of 10,000 new Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs)
25. Namo Drone Didi
26. Agri Fund for Start-Ups & Rural Enterprises (AgriSURE)
27. Sub-Mission on Agriculture Mechanization (SMAM)
28. Digital Agriculture Mission
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