SUICIDES OF COTTON FARMERS IN ANDHRA-PRADESH - AN EXPLORATORY-STUDY

Though there are several accounts of the suicides of cotton farmers in Andhra Pradesh, particularly in Telugu newspapers, no comprehensive a ccount of the phenomenon is available. This paper makes such an attemp t and concludes that the main reason for the strain on the cotton peas ant is rite growing indebtedness to the agriculturist to moneylender-c um-trader. But this does not entirely explain the suicides; one has he re to understand the social milieu in which an individual gets alienat ed from the family and the society.