By IANS,
Chandigarh : Inching closer to the 150 lakh tonne-mark, foodgrain producing states Punjab and Haryana have together procured nearly 147 lakh tonnes of paddy this season, officials said here Sunday.
While Punjab has procured nearly 109 lakh tonnes paddy, Haryana has procured nearly 38 lakh tonnes. Bulk of the paddy (nearly 99 percent) has been procured by government agencies while the rest has been procured by private millers in both the states.
In Punjab, Ludhiana, Sangrur and Patiala were leading in procurement. Over Rs.3,352 crore has been distributed as payment to farmers in these three districts alone, a food and supplies official said here.
Punjab officials said farmers in the state have received a total payment of nearly Rs.10,460 crore this season (starting Oct 1).
Procurement of paddy in both states started Oct 1 but the bulk of the stocks started arriving only after Oct 10. In Punjab, the state government has set up 1,770 procurement centres.
In Haryana, the procurement of nearly 38 lakh tonnes so far is higher than the 31.35 lakh tonnes procured in the same period last year, an official of Haryana food and supplies department said.
Kurukshetra, Karnal and Kaithal were leading in paddy procurement in Haryana.
The minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the government this time is Rs.1,250 and Rs.1,280 per quintal for common and grade-A varieties of paddy.