Lower yields, rising cost of cultivation, a mounting debt burden and dipping incomes of cultivators have plunged agriculture into a crisis of unprecedented scale, the consequences of which are not just economic. The economic trauma is translating into mental trauma, and the ever hardworking Punjabis, who have emerged stronger with each difficult period, are now being forced to admit defeat to the extent of ending their own lives. Farmers' organisations, political movements and even some state-led response to this crisis have not met with success.
