Maharashtra: Farmer suicides worrying, Centre must devise policy, says Pawar

NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar on Saturday, 15 March expressed concern about farmer suicides in Maharashtra's Marathwada and Vidarbha regions, and said the Centre should come up with a policy to help cultivators.

Pawar's statement comes in the backdrop of data released by the state relief and rehabilitation department, revealing that 2,635 farmers died by suicide in Maharashtra in 2024.

"The information which has come from Marathwada and Vidarbha is worrying. We will collect accurate data from different locations. The Centre should prepare a policy to help farmers," Pawar told reporters in Baramati.

On speculation about NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil crossing over to the Ajit Pawar-led party faction, the senior politician said Patil had already given his statement to the media.

Patil, the state president of NCP (SP), had earlier said nothing about him was certain, sparking the buzz that he could quit the party. On Friday, Patil met the NCP (SP) chief at an event in Baramati and later said he was not upset and a "wrong inference" was drawn from his statement.

Pawar, a former Union agriculture minister, said farming was witnessing a revolution, and artificial intelligence (AI) will soon be used in sugarcane cultivation.

"AI technology can be used to boost the quality of sugarcane. Many sugar factories will take part in the AI farming process. A meeting is scheduled later in the day with some officials of sugar factories. A revolutionary decision will be made soon, and the use of AI in farming will begin soon," he said.

Pawar also said Beed, which has been in the news for the murder of sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh, was once a peaceful district.

"The situation in Beed was never like this. It was once a peaceful district. As many as six people from my party were elected from Beed. However, some of them misused their power, and we are witnessing the consequences," he said.