Paddy arrival picks up pace at Sector 39 grain market in Chandigarh

With harvesting of paddy picking up pace, nearly 85,000 bags of the crop has reached the grain market in Sector 39.

According to officials of the Mandi Board, paddy had started arriving in the mandi from September 24 and procurement started from September 27. The officials said that arrival of the crop would pick up pace now after the Navratris and Dasehra festival. Earlier, only the early ripening varieties had arrived in the mandi.

They said the procurement process was going on smoothly and farmers were being paid within a week through online transfer of the money into their bank accounts. They said the farmers should harvest the crop only when it was fully ripe and ensure that the moisture level does not exceed 17 per cent.

Last year, 7,23,725 bags of paddy had arrived, they said, and added that nearly 10,000 to 15,000 bags arrived daily at the mandi. Apart from Chandigarh, they are getting paddy from farmers in Mohali and Ropar districts also, they said. This year, the government had increased the MSP from Rs 2,225 per quintal last year to Rs 2,389 per quintal. Amarjit Singh Rana, a farmer from Ropar district, said that he had no problem in selling his produce and the procurement process was smooth.