India, Nov. 8 -- The Narendra Modi government finally released the farm sector suicide data for 2016 after three years on November 8, 2019. According to it farmers' suicide numbers has declined sharply from previous years though the number of agricultural labourers taking their lives have jumped 11 percent. The 2016 report continued to underline the country's grim agrarian crisis.

In 2016, 6,270 farmers committed suicide, down from 8,007 in 2015. Suicide by farm workers though increased to 5,109 from from 4595. (see table)

Those engaged to the farm sector constituted 8.7 percent of the total 131,008 suicides reported in 2016.

Telangana, which usually fared among the worst (including when it was part of undivided Andhra Pradesh) sprang ...