Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution has said that procurement operations of Paddy are ongoing in full swing in the States of Punjab and Haryana. So far, 10 lakh farmers in Punjab and over four lakh farmers in Haryana have registered to sell their produce in Kharif Marketing Season, KMS 2024-25.

The Ministry informed that in Haryana, 45 lakh metric tonnes of LMT of paddy have been procured till the 29th of this month, which is 87 percent of 52 LMT procured till the same period of last year. The Ministry added that in Punjab, 67 LMT of paddy has been procured till 29th October, which is 80 percent of the quantity of 84 LMT procured last year. The Ministry said that the Central Government is committed to ensuring that the benefit of the MSP regime is realised by all the farmers.

The MSP of paddy has increased from one thousand 310 per qunital in 2013-14 to 2 thousand 300 per qunital in 2023-24. Since 2018-19, MSP has been assured with a return of at least 50 percent over the all-India weighted average cost of production. As of the 29th of this month, an amount of 13 thousand 211 crore rupees has been released to over 3.5 lakh farmers in Punjab, while over ten thousand crore rupees have been released to 2.75 lakh farmers in Haryana for KMS 2024-25. The Ministry added that the government is committed to procuring the estimated target of 185 LMT of paddy in Punjab and 60 LMT of paddy in Haryana.