Centre orders early procurement of paddy in Punjab & Haryana at MSP

New Delhi: Centre has ordered early procurement of paddy in Punjab and Haryana at minimum support price (MSP). The move is aimed at facilitating farmers to sell their produce at MSP expeditiously. Harvests of paddy have begun arriving at mandis in Punjab and Haryana, prompting the government to start the procurement process through the Food Corporation of India. In other states, procurement of paddy will begin on October 1. Agencies including the Food Corporation of India are in a state of readiness for smoothly undertaking procurement operations.
 
The government is planning to procure 31 percent of total paddy from Haryana and Punjab. It will procure 113 lakh tonnes of rice from Punjab and 44 lakh tonnes from Haryana during the kharif procurement season. Total rice procurement target has been set at 495.37 lakh tonnes for the whole country for the 2020-21 kharif season