India: Paddy Procurement Increases By 20 % On Year

India's paddy procurement has risen by 20 % at 14.39 million MT so far in the 2008-09 marketing season beginning October compared to the paddy purchased by the Center in the same period last year.

Food Corporation of India, the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of food grains, had purchased record 285 lakh MT of rice in 2007-08 marketing season. It also procured record 226 lakh MT of wheat this year.

Punjab leads the pack of states that contributed to the central pool with procurement from the region reaching 11.88 MT, followed by Haryana (1.77 MT), Tamil Nadu (0.25 MT) and Uttar Pradesh (0.24 MT).