Paddy buying reaches 57.64 lakh tonne in Punjab

Chandigarh, Oct 21 (PTI) Paddy buying in Punjab has reached 57.64 lakh tonne so far in ongoing kharif marketing season, with government agencies procuring bulk of crop from farmers.The paddy procurement stood at 54.58 lakh tonne in corresponding period of last year.Government agencies bought 54.91 lakh tonne, which constituted 95.3 per cent of total lifting while private traders procured 2.73 lakh tonnes so far, a spokesman said here today.Among government agencies Pungrain bought 15.01 lakh tonne, Punsup 13.82 lakh tonne, Markfed 12.19 lakh tonne, PSWC 6.92 lakh tonne and PAIC 5.88 lakh tonne of paddy.Centre''s procurement agency FCI procured 1.07 lakh tonne which was just 2 per cent of total buying.Punjab is eyeing to buy 140 lakh tonne in current season.