A total of 4,864 farmers committed suicide in Madhya Pradesh in the last four years, Home Minister Uma Shankar Gupta said Thursday.
In a reply to legislator Ramniwas Rawat, the minister said of the 7,594 people who committed suicide in the state last year, 853 were farmers. The total included 1,107 labourers.
In 2008, 1,379 farmers committed suicide. The number rose to 1,395 in 2009 and slipped to 1,237 in 2010.