Down To Earth, 1 of 10

M. Mahendra Reddy committed suicide. It was one in a spate of suicides in Andhra Pradesh.

Surya Sen works at the Centre for Science and Environment, in Delhi. He's a photographer for Down to Earth, a science and environment fortnightly published by CSE. His striking, somewhat eerie images from Andhra Pradesh have won him well-deserved accolades recently.

“Apart from portraits, there are also images which depict the distribution and sale of seeds, which of course is the costliest input in agriculture and the primary reason forcing farmers to take on more debt.”

Unable to pay this mounting debt, farmers have taken their lives. What is shocking is how pervasive this practice is in one state of India.

Tiffinbox presents Surya's work here – one image per day, over the course of the next ten days. Please come back and visit. We'll be adding captions soon so that you better understand the situation.

Caption: Monocrotophos is a pesticide distributed free to farmers by the Andhra Pradesh government. On the night of February 2, 2004, Redamma's husband, Venkata Ranga Reddy, killed himself by consuming Monocrotophos. Redamma, who lives in Mamidamakala village, Anantpur district, Andhra Pradesh, has three teenaged children to look after. © Surya Sen