Bigger land holdings key to preventing farmer suicides in India: activists

New Delhi

ONLY an overhaul of India's farming policy, including addressing the small size of agricultural holdings, will help to stem the epidemic of suicides among farmers that have devastated rural communities, campaigners say.

Last week, the Supreme Court asked why India's states and the central bank have no policies to prevent suicides among farmers. It asked the government and the Reserve Bank of India to respond within a month.

Tens of thousands of farmers have killed themselves over the past decade as drought in many parts of…