Farmer suicides won’t decline unless innovation is embraced: Ex-addl secy

Nagpur: Former Maharashtra Additional Secretary Anup Kumar on Saturday delivered a stark warning to Vidarbha's farming community, saying farmer suicides will not decline unless cultivators abandon traditional practices and embrace sustained innovation. Speaking at a workshop on artificial intelligence and agri-startups at the ongoing Agrovision expo, he said the region's long-standing agrarian distress cannot be addressed without technological reform. "Unless farmers in Vidarbha try new experiments, suicides will not stop," he said.Kumar, who also served as the former Divisional Commissioner at Nagpur, argued that climate volatility became the biggest threat to farm incomes. "Changing weather patterns are causing massive losses. Unpredictability became the biggest challenge," he said, adding that shrinking availability of agricultural labour further worsened the crisis. He urged farmers to adopt drones for spraying, use AI-driven irrigation and water-management tools, and explore startups that support precision farming. "For Vidarbha's farmers to escape poor soil quality, low productivity, and low income, there is no alternative to new technology," he said.The workshop drew participation from HappyEaters app co-founder Shashikant Chaudhari, Australia-based Hemant Chaudhary, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) Director Ajay Srivastava, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) Director Premalal Patel, and CropData Technology co-founder Sachin Suri. The panel discussed ways in which AI could simplify decisions on crop selection, weather preparedness, and resource use.Kumar highlighted the fast-declining acreage of moong and urad, noting that farmers were increasingly reluctant to sow these pulses due to weather unpredictability. While initiatives such as the Jalyukt Shivar programme improved water availability in parts of the state, he cautioned that much of Vidarbha still needed "smart water-management systems" to ensure long-term sustainability.He said technology-backed agriculture, supported by local innovations and farmer-focused startups, could ultimately reshape the region's rural economy. "AI, crop diversification, and new ideas are not luxuries—they are essential for the future," he said.

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