'WB's 35% paddy may go waste as farmers fall short of cash'
The West Bengal agricultural department has estimated that about 35% of monsoon paddy might go to waste as farmers are short of cash to harvest the crops. The estimate is part of an agriculture department report, commissioned to assess the impact of demonetisation on monsoon paddy. Notably, WB is India’s largest producer of rice at 158 lakh tonnes a year.