Even as they produce food for society and its people, lives dependent on agriculture are barely able to make ends meet. The cost of food production far outweighs the returns; the peasantry is falling prey to indebtedness, both institutionalised and non-institutionalised. It is facing the severest of challenges, with even dalit landless labourers becoming victims of indebtedness and committing suicide. Based on a study conducted in eight districts of the Malwa region of the Punjab, this book uses quantitative data along with field work, narratives and interviews with peasant unions to outline the distress borne by the family, including women, the children and the elderly in the aftermath of peasant suicides.