The pest infestation marks the third consecutive season of loss.
Seven acres of pest-infested cotton, an old mother, two sisters and a six-lakh debt, is what Kala Singh has left behind. The 33-year-old Punjab farmer killed himself on Wednesday by drinking the same pesticide that failed to save his crop.
In Bhatinda's Burj Mehma village, his cousin Harbans Singh says Kala Singh was very hard working but could do nothing to save his entire cotton crop from being ruined by pests. Last week, two other farmers in neighbouring villages killed themselves because their cotton crop was destroyed.
Across the nine districts in Punjab's Malwa region, roughly 80 per cent cotton has been affected by pests, estimate farmer unions, though the government is yet to assess crop failure.
Angry farmers took to protests on highways and blocked traffic for hours. They called off the protests yesterday after the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal promised an appointment with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sept 14.
Not far from Kala Singh's village, NDTV found a cotton farmer destroying his pest-hit crop on his 2.5-acre farm in Muktsar district's Kot Bhai village.
The farmer, Labh Singh, said he had bought seeds and pesticides from a government-authorised dealer. But his crop was infested with pests nevertheless.
Labh Singh said he wrote to the agriculture department seeking help, but did not hear back.
The farmer alleges that when he complained to the dealer, he allegedly offered him Rs 5,000 "to remain silent."
"He said if I complained, I would be sued for defamation," Labh Singh said.
Opposition parties allege that government corruption is to blame. "The government bought pesticides from companies we don't even know about," the Leader of Punjab People's Party Manpreet Singh Badal said.
"Police has conducted raids. We will not spare anyone involved in the sale of spurious pesticides and seeds," says Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhbir Badal.
But for the farmers of Malwa, the pest infestation marks the third consecutive season of loss. Last year a drought hit paddy output while ironically, unseasonal rains destroyed the wheat crop.