Thaindian News

Chandigarh, Oct 24 (IANS) Major foodgrain producing states Punjab and Haryana have procured nearly 96 lakh tonnes of paddy this season, officials said Monday.

The procurement is much higher in both states compared to the same period last year. The procurement has been made in the first 23 days of the current procurement season which began Oct 1.

Punjab has procured nearly 72 lakh tonnes of paddy this year compared to 62.72 lakh tonnes procured in the same period last year, food and supplies officials said here.

Government agencies have procured over 95.5 per cent of the paddy coming to grain markets across the state, while the rest has been procured by private millers.

Patiala, Ludhiana and Jalandhar districts were leading in paddy procurement so far. The Punjab government has set up 1,745 procurement centres across the state.

In neighbouring Haryana, nearly 24 lakh tonnes of paddy has been procured till Sunday.

This is much higher than the 16.81 lakh tonnes paddy procured in the same period last year.

Haryana Food and Supplies Minister Mahender Partap Singh said that out of the total arrival, over 21.92 lakh metric tonnes of paddy had been purchased by government agencies.

Kurukshetra, Karnal and Kaithal districts were leading in paddy procurement so far, he added.