By IANS,
Chandigarh : Heading towards a record this year, the procurement of paddy in Punjab and Haryana has already crossed 16.1 million tonnes, officials from both states said here Monday.
Punjab has already hit a high of nearly 12.7 million tonnes, crossing last year’s figure of 12.67 million tonnes.
Officials of Punjab’s food and supplies ministry said that this year they were hopeful of crossing the highest-ever procurement record of 14.2 million tonnes in 2004-05.
The procurement process in both states started Oct 1 this year. Procurement has been on for the last 40 days.
The officials said that in Punjab, farmers had been paid Rs.95.21 billion for the paddy procured. Officials have been instructed to make payments to farmers within 48 hours of procurement.
Apart from private buyers, six government agencies, five from each state and the central government’s Food Corporation of India (FCI), are engaged in the procurement process.
Ludhiana district maintained its lead by procuring 1.58 million tonnes of paddy followed by Sangrur (1.43 million tonnes) and Ferozepur (1.2 million tonnes).
In neighbouring Haryana, nearly 3.4 million tonnes of paddy had been procured, officials said.
Out of this, government agencies had procured nearly 1.76 million tonnes while private buyers had purchased 1.64 million tonnes.