Despite less than favourable weather conditions this year, the agrarian states of Punjab and Haryana have crossed 175 lakh tonnes of paddy procurement this season, food and supplies officials from both states said Monday.
While Punjab has procured over 137 lakh tonnes of paddy so far, Haryana has crossed 39 lakh tonnes of procurement this season.
The Punjab government is already eyeing a procurement target of 140 lakh tonnes this year. Procurement of paddy, which started Oct 1 this year, will continue till next month, food and supplies officials in the state said.
Nearly 98 per cent of the total paddy arriving in nearly 1,600 grain markets across Punjab has been procured by government agencies.
Officials in neighbouring Haryana are also expecting to cross the 40 lakh tonnes target of paddy procurement.
Farmers have been made payment of nearly Rs.15,000 crore so far this season.