Abdur Khuddush (50) of Palsit in Burdwan, is stressed. He was late in harvesting kharif paddy and is now sowing potato, over a week behind schedule. The delay had nothing to do with demonetisation, as he was able to draw ₹50,000 using his Kisan credit card.

The real culprit was the climate. West Bengal and its adjacent States witnessed heavy but untimely rainfall late in October. Since wet paddy fetches a low price, harvesting was delayed, as was potato sowing. “You cannot sow potato on wet soil,” Khuddush told BusinessLine .

Indeed, this has been the standard response from farmers across Burdwan and Hooghly districts, the largest contributors of the State’s rice and potato output. Nationally, West Bengal ranks second in both categories.

The farm sector was able to cope with the sudden cash squeeze, partly due to general preparedness and partly through informal arrangements. Seeds, for example, are stocked in advance. Lenient credit from fertiliser, pesticide and seed dealers also helped. Farmers’ cooperatives, many of which also sell agri inputs, adjusted purchases against loans.

Subrata Ghosh, General Manager, HPM Chemicals and Fertilisers, reported a 40 per cent rise in pesticide sales in Bengal in November against the same month last year.

Labour affected

But cash was an issue in paying labour, for harvesting paddy and sowing rabi crops. The problem was overcome through with arrangements. Wages are paid both in cash (₹200-250 a day) and paddy (2 kg per person a day).

Those in dire need got priority for cash disbursals. Most labourers took their paddy and decided to wait for cash. The paddy was bartered for essentials.

While farmers in Hooghly and Burdwan denied any major impact from demonetisation, Suvasish Pal, one of the largest fertiliser distributors in Malda district, reported a 20 per cent drop in sales in November. However, he said, sales have picked up in December. “There is now adequate flow of ₹100 and ₹2,000 notes,” he said.

Kuldip Maity, Managing Director and CEO of Village Financial Services, a microfinance institution, confirmed that there has been a significant rise in rural liquidity in Bengal over the last week.

Ghosh of HPM is expecting potato cultivation to increase as farmers got a good price last year.

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