Paddy procurement in Punjab crosses 109 lakh tonnes

Chandigarh, Oct 31 (UNI) Six government agencies and millers procured 109,47,643 tonnes of paddy in Punjab till yesterday evening, official figures released here today stated.

An official spokesman today said that Pungrain procured 29,85,574 tonnes of paddy (29.4 per cent) while Markfed procured 23,35,152 tonnes of paddy (23.0 per cent). Punsup procured 22,81,292 tonnes (22.5 per cent), Punjab State Warehousing Corporation procured 12,81,530 tonnes (12.6 per cent) and Punjab Agros 10,88,864 tonnes (10.7 per cent).

FCI procured only 1,69,520 tonnes of paddy (1.7 per cent) while the millers procured 8,05,711 tonnes of paddy (7.4 per cent).

Ferozepur district was leading in procurement figures with 11,71,432 tonnes of paddy having been purchased. Ludhiana district was at the second position with 11,55,270 tonnes.

The six government agencies have paid over Rs 7814.69 crore to the farmers for paddy procured by agencies in the current Kharif Marketing Season.

UNI HS JS MP RAI1906