As many as 1,529 farmers committed suicide during 2004-05, up from 1,164 cases during the previous fiscal, parliament was informed Friday.

The maximum number of 758 suicides was reported from Andhra Pradesh between April 1, 2004 and Dec 31, 2004, Minister of State for Agriculture Kanti Lal Bhuria said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

The state had witnessed 258 suicides in 2003-04, he said.

Maharashtra too witnessed a steep increase in suicides from 180 in 2003-04 to 524 in 2004-05. However, the number of suicides dropped in Karnataka from 708 in 2003-04 to 216 in the last fiscal.

Tamil Nadu, which had no incidence of suicides by farmers during 2002-04, reported 31 suicides in 2004-05, Bhuria said.

The causes leading to the suicides were still being ascertained, he said.