As crops fail, banks don't deliver and the government falters, Mandya's farmers find themselves at the mercy of unscrupulous moneylendersChenne Gowda has a Rs 4 l a k h a l b at ro s s around his neck. The 55-year-old sugarcane farmer from Chikka maralli village in Pan davapura taluk, Mandya district, took the loan from private moneylenders but has no idea how he'll repay . His crop, on two acres, is wilting in the field because it has no buyers.Sugar factories have been sitting on unsold stock for the past 12 months and have no incentive to commence crushing this year.Gowda took the loan for farming, for his daughter's marriage and to repair his small thatched leaking house.It was taken at 5% interest per month, which is 80% annual interest on a compounded basis. And the "meter baddi'' (interest levied on a weekly or monthly basis on defaulters) is already operational. Gowda's wife Susheelamma and son Chennappa are daily wage workers.Gowda has health issues and can't undertake agricultural activities. "With these liabilities and banks refusing to refinance without dues being cleared, who'll help me?'' he asks in desperation.There are many like him in Mandya district, where sugarcane, paddy and mulberry are the prime agricultural activities. When in crisis, they either go to a traditional private moneylender to who they are not yet beholden, or to other locals with money - they could be government employees, teachers, neighbours. But with either source, the problem invariably worsens, unless the farmer gets a really good price for the next crop.Since the first farmer suicide reported on June 21, Mandya has seen close to 40 cases so far.