The government's paddy procurement for the central pool rose 9.58 per cent to 541.90 lakh tonne so far in the ongoing 2022-23 kharif marketing season, according to the food ministry data.

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Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Telangana were the top contributors to the central pool.

Normally, paddy procurement begins from October. However, in southern states, especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, it begins from September.

The government aims to procure 775.72 lakh tonne of paddy in the 2022-23 kharif marketing season (October-September).

The actual procurement stood at record 759.32 lakh tonne in the previous kharif marketing season. According to official data, the total paddy purchase increased to 541.90 lakh tonne till January 3 of the 2022-23 kharif marketing season from 494.50 lakh tonne in the year-ago period.

Paddy purchase in Punjab declined marginally to 182.13 lakh tonne so far this marketing year from 187.12 lakh tonne in the year-ago period.

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The procurement in Chhattisgarh increased sharply to 82.89 lakh tonne from 55 lakh tonne, while the buying of the grain in Haryana rose to 58.96 lakh tonne from 54.50 lakh tonne.

In Telangana, the paddy procurement remained lower at 56.31 lakh tonne as against 63.84 lakh tonne in the year-ago period while in Uttar Pradesh, the procurement rose marginally to 42.96 lakh tonne from 42.73 lakh tonne in the year-ago period.

In Madhya Pradesh, the procurement rose sharply to 34.50 lakh tonne so far this marketing year from 22.42 lakh tonne in the year-ago period, the ministry data showed.

The paddy procurement is undertaken by both state-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI) and private agencies. It is procured at the minimum support price directly from farmers and is utilised for meeting the demand under several welfare schemes.

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Paddy is grown in both kharif (summer) and rabi (winter) seasons. But 80 per cent of the country's total paddy production comes from the kharif season.

According to the first estimate of the agriculture ministry, the country's paddy production is estimated to decline 6 per cent to 104.99 million tonne in the 2022-23 kharif season due to decrease in paddy acreage in the wake of poor rains in key producing states, especially Jharkhand.