From correspondents in Orissa, India, 10:05 PM IST

The Orissa agriculture minister Saturday conceded that as many as 3,509 farmers have committed suicide in the state in the last 11 years.

He said this while replying to a query in the assembly.

'Some 48,631 people have committed suicide in the state starting from 1997 to 2008. The number of farmers among them is 3,509, with the highest number of farmer deaths reported in 1998,' Damodar Rout, agriculture minister, said.

'All the deaths are not due to crop loss but because of some other social reasons,' he added.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)