Boro paddy had been the triumph of modern agriculture in rural West Bengal. In the recent past, concern has been expressed about the economic and ecological sustainability of this so-called profitable crop. This study attempts inter alia to understand the rationale of farmers' choice of boro paddy harvest in a situation of declining profitability and growth in output, the impact on groundwater reserves in West Bengal and damage to the soil substrate caused by such monocropping. Despite a dearth of scientific data on the polluting effects of agrochemical dumping, indicators show that a large number of farmers of West Bengal who are growing boro paddy are becoming ecologically handicapped.
