Paddy procurement in Haryana in the current kharif season has crossed 53.24 lakh metric tonnes (MT),  an all-time high.

last year, only 42.69 lakh MT of paddy was  procured by the agencies during the corresponding period. Also, the farmers have been paid Rs 8040 crore for this record procurement, said Haryana Minister of State for Food , Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Karan Dev Kamboj on Tuesday.

He said that a total of 65.37 lakh MT of paddy has so far arrived in the mandis of the state  as against 58.14 lakh MT of paddy arrived during the corresponding period last year. The procurement of paddy is going on smoothly.

Out of the total arrival this year, 53.55 lakh MT of paddy is leviable. The millers and dealers have procured about 12.13 lakh MT of paddy during the current season, said the Minister.

During this year, the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department has procured over 22.59 lakh MT of paddy and HAFED has procured 18.35 lakh MT of paddy. Haryana Agro Industries Corporation has procured over 6.30 lakh MT of paddy , Haryana Warehousing Corporation 5.67 lakh MT and Food Corporation of India has procured 31,801 MT of paddy.

While referring to arrival of paddy in various districts of the state, he said that a maximum of about 12.42 lakh MT of paddy had arrived in the mandis of Karnal, followed by 11.42 lakh MT    in Kurukshetra, about 7.81 lakh MT in Kaithal and 7.29 lakh MT in Ambala. Similarly 6.91 lakh MT of paddy had arrived in the mandis of Fatehabad and 5.30 lakh MT in Yamunanagar.