At 204L tonne, all-time high paddy procured; 25% jump over last year
CHANDIGARH: Paddy procurement in Punjab touched an alltime high of 203.8 lakh tonne, which is 25% more than the previous season’s procurement of 163.5 lakh tonne, with the season ending on November 30.
Most districts received 13% to 57% more paddy in mandis than the previous season. At 2.8 lakh tonne, Fazilka mandi received 133% more paddy over last season. This season, paddy was grown on 27.9 lakh hectare, including basmati on 6.6 lakh hectare. The yield per hectare is expected to touch 70 quintal.
At 22.5 lakh tonne, Sangrur topped the procurement table followed by Ludhiana (19.5 lakh tonne), Patiala (16 lakh tonne) and Moga (14.5 lakh tonne). The percentage increase over last year in these districts in the same order as listed was 24%, 13%, 31% and 14%.
“This season, crop arrival remained steady for 45 days against the previous season, when the influx is witnessed in 30 days,” said a senior official in the food and civil supplies department that manages paddy procurement through four state procurement agencies – Pungrain, Markfed, Punsup and the State Warehousing Corporation. The officer added that due to the pandemic, 3,500 mandis were set up this year against 1,840 every year.
To date, payment of Rs 35,000 crore has been made to farmers, with Rs 4,000 crore pending. The department claims this will also be cleared by next week.
Report on quantum of outside arrival
The state food department is also investigating the cause of increase in arrival, especially in the light of 75 trucks of paddy seized on the border, while entering Punjab in October. Teams from the department have visited mandis and have checked record to ascertain how much paddy farmers have booked.
The department is expected submit a report to the government on how much paddy has come from outside the state, as the crop sold at better prices here.
The four procurement agencies also witnessed substantial increase in their purchase quantity. Pungrain procured 84 lakh tonne which was 41% more than the previous season, Markfed (52 lakh tonne) 25.5% more, Punsup (42.8 lakh tonne) with an increase of 21% and the State Warehousing Corporation buying 21.3 lakh tonne, an increase of 10%. There was no change in the contribution from the Food Corporation of India and private millers.