The Maharashtra government on Thursday informed the Bombay High Court that as many as 1,000 farmers committed suicide in the state in 2015. The court, which has taken up the issue on its own cognizance, suggested that the government rope in business houses would readily come forward to help farmers under the corporate social responsibility," the bench of Justices Naresh Patil and Girish Kulkarni said.

Business houses should be urged either to adopt villages or provide equipment to the farmers for free, the bench said. The court also suggested that the government may promote collective farming as a solution. It would especially help farmers with small land holding, who are unable to recover the cost of cultivation, said the bench. It also asked the government to conceive and implement welfare schemes for farmers.

The government, however, informed the court that the state had already introduced some schemes to that effect, but the number of suicides in the state still continue to rise. The government had informed the court earlier that it was also providing counselling to farmers, apart from concessions such as the waiver of loans and electricity charges. The central government had sanctioned Rs 3,050 crore for drought relief in Maharashtra, while the state allocated Rs 2,500 crore.