Paddy produrement picks up in Western Punjab

Chandigarh, Oct 1 (UNI) Paddy procurement has picked up in Western Punjab with early arrival of produce and 2.65 lakh tonnes of paddy has been collected till yesterday.

According to an official spokesman, PUNGRAIN procured 60267 tonnes of paddy (25.5%) whereas MARKFED procured 66946 tonnes (28.3%), PUNSUP 47213 tonnes (20%), State Warehousing Corporation 34806 tonnes (14.7%) and Punjab Agro 25410 tonnes (10.7%).

The Central Government Agency FCI procured only 1912 tonnes of paddy (0.8%) while Millers procured 29372 tonnes (11%) on the first day of produrement.

The Punjab Food Supply department had set up 1622 procurement centres throughout the state for smooth procurement of paddy.

The spokesman said that farmers have been assured payment against paddy procured by the government agencies within 48 hours of lifting of paddy from the procurement centres.

UNI VKJ VN1315