Over 2.13 lakh tonnes of paddy was procured during ongoing Kharif marketing season in Punjab by government owned agencies and private millers.
Out of total purchase, the government agencies bought 1.55 lakh tonnes (LT,) while rest was procured by private traders, an official release said.
Among government agencies, Pungrain purchased 51,099 tonnes while Markfed, Punsup, PSWC, Punjab Agro procured 34,585 tonnes, 32,938 tonnes, 10,700 tonnes and 15,438 tonnes, respectively, it said.
Central procurement agency FCI procured 11,107 tonnes of paddy in Punjab.
Meanwhile, the state Food and Agriculture Minister Adesh Partap Singh Kairon today said in New Delhi that the Central government aims to procure 120 LT of the grain this season.
The target for rice procurement is lower by 2 LT from the previous year as the production of common variety rice is expected to be lower in view of crop diversification, the Minister said.
"Harvesting of kharif paddy has started in the state. We are targeting to procure 120 lakh tonnes of the grain this year, two lakh tonnes lower than the last year," Kairon told reporters after meeting Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
The area under basmati rice is higher as compared to common variety rice, he added.
District Tarantaran in Punjab with 45,414 tonnes of procurement is leading in procurement operations whereas Jalandhar with 27,135 tonnes was at second slot, the official release said.
Punjab has set up 1,806 procurement centres for paddy procurement and has set a target to but 140 LT of crop for central pool.
Meanwhile in Haryana, more than 5.56 LT of paddy has so far arrived in the mandis and out of which, 5.02 LT was purchased by the procuring agencies of the government during the Kharif 2014-15.
While stating this here today, a spokesman of the Food and Supplies Department said over 54,000 tonnes of paddy has been purchased by millers and dealers.
He said a maximum of 1.72 LT of paddy has arrived in the mandis of Kurukshetra followed by 1.59 LT in Karnal and over 80,000 tonnes in Kaithal.
Similarly, he said that 84,130 tonnes of paddy has arrived in Ambala, 3,785 tonnes in Jind, 20,699 tonnes in Panchkula, 5,140 tonnes in Panipat, 2,161 tonnes in Sirsa, 1,265 tonnes in Sonipat, 27,264 tonnes in Yamunanagar, 122 tonnes in Fatehabad and 177 tonnes in Palwal.
He said among the procuring agencies, the Food and Supplies Department has procured over 2.26 LT of paddy, whereas HAFED has procured 1.61 lakh tonnes, Agro Industries Corporation 81,258 tonnes and Haryana Warehousing Corporation 33,409 tonnes.
