n Punjab Food, Civil Supply and Consumer Affairs Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu on Monday said the state has set precedence for the entire country in smooth conducting of procurement of wheat and paddy during lockdown.
In a press conference here, Ashu said that the Punjab Government has created 2136 additional temporary purchase centers in the State thus increasing the total number of purchase centers to 4006 during wheat procurement in Rabbi season of 2020-21.
A total of 127.11 lakh MT of wheat was procured by all the procurement agencies and it benefited more than 10 lakh farmers from the MSP scheme.
Similarly, 2367 additional temporary purchase centers were set up in the State during KMS 2020-21 to maintain social distancing and staggered procurement. He informed that a total 202.78 lakh MT of paddy was procured by all the procurement agencies during the season, which has been all-time highest paddy procurement in the State.