Impact of Drought on Farmer Suicides

In the past year Mr. Rothler studied the socio-economic impact of irrigation usage on farmers. In particular, he analyzed the connection between irrigation cover rates and farmer suicide rates. The results of his research indicate that a higher rate of irrigation is directly related to lower farmer suicide rates. In contrast to this, irrigation cover does not have any significant relationship to suicides among other occupational groups. This provides strong evidence that the effect of irrigation cover on suicides is driven by factors related to farming. Further analysis reveals that most of the demonstrated effect is related to variation in canal irrigation cover, rather than well irrigation. This distinction is important because canal irrigation is more favourably distributed among small and marginal farmers, while well irrigation is more advantageous to larger farmers