because these are the very means with which he can earn his living. All old loans of the farmers should be written off. 2. Many anti-farmer laws should be changed. Today it is almost impossible for any entrepreneur to buy a farm. Similarly, it is impossible for any farmer to sell his entire land and come out of farming. Buying and selling of the farm land has to be made simpler. There should be a legal exit route for a farmer who does not wish to continue farming. A farmer today does not have the possibility of finding any alternative occupation. Lack of option to come out of loss-making farming compels him to remain in that ditch of indebtedness and that makes him very helpless. 3. Many psychologists who have studied the problem of suicide have concluded that the urge to commit suicide is usually momentary and in that moment of frustration a person goes to extremes. If proper guidance is available during that critical moment, he would keep away from suicide. Therefore, some helpline has to be made available that a farmer can access at that moment of desperation. 4. The best way to stop farmer suicides is to increase his selfrespect. For that, offering him subsidies is not the solution. Instead, we must create a system where he gets a fair price for his produce. Not giving him that fair price is the worst kind of exploitation and that has been going on for generations. Farmers should come together and take a vow that, “We are sunk in this trap of loan not because of our own faults. We shall together overcome this calamity.” I am sure through that kind of resolve they can get the confidence to come out of this situation. Joshi believed that there was exploitation of farmers producing all kinds of crops, but the worst kind of exploitation had taken place in case of cotton farmers. Once a man had When White Gold Turned Red
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