Despite loan waivers, farmer suicides continue unabated Lacking adequate irrigation and remunerative support prices, the Indian farmer continues to suffer at the hands of an uncaring bureaucracy, manipulative politicians and avaricious moneylenders. More than 280 farmers have committed suicide in Maharashtra's Vidarbha district since January. The government says that more than 100,000 have killed themselves between 1997 and 2005 . In Vidarbha, the main cause of suicide is indebtedness to moneylenders, who often charge interest rates of up to 40 per cent on loans.