With the Punjab government set to open 1,832 mandis for paddy procurement on October 1, the kharif season faces an immediate challenge. A massive backlog of 280 lakh tonnes of food grains is currently clogging state godowns, rice mills, and mandi yards, raising concerns about the smooth purchase and lifting of the new crop.
Driven by a bumper paddy crop, the Centre’s ministry of food and public distribution has set a target for the procurement of 180 lakh tonnes from the state this season. With paddy cultivated across 32.7 lakh hectares, the state agriculture department expects the total yield to surpass 210 lakh tonnes.
“We are set to purchase paddy from the farmers from October 1, as all arrangements are in place,” said food and civil supplies minister Lal Chand Kataruchak.
The central government has set the minimum support price for paddy at ₹ 2,461 per quintal for the current season. He said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has sanctioned ₹ 50,337.68 crore for crop procurement out of which ₹ 42,786.68 crore has already been credited to state accounts for October purchases, while the remaining ₹ 7,550 crore is scheduled for release in November. Additionally, more than 5 lakh gunny bags have been arranged to pack the crop.
Speaking on the storage of the crop, a senior official in the state food and civil supplies department said the entire crop will be handed over to rice mills to be shelled. “There are 5,500 mills in the state and they are allocated paddy according to their milling capacity,” he added. “Our department and chief minister Bhagwant Mann had raised the issue of evacuating grain stocks with the Centre,” said the minister, adding that the department is making use of the state’s existing infrastructure.
