Government procurement of paddy in India slowed sharply in the second half of October. Data on the Central Food Procurement Portal of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Food show 78.89 lakh tonnes bought between 14 and 31 October 2026, the lowest for that fortnight in at least six years, Rural Voice reported.
That is 55.44% of the 142.28 lakh tonnes bought in the same weeks of 2025, a fall of almost 45%. Against the five-year average for the period, 127.70 lakh tonnes over 2021-22 to 2025-26, this year's purchases reached only 61.77%.
Since the kharif marketing season opened on 1 September, 116.46 lakh tonnes of paddy have been procured. The whole of the previous season, 2025-26, brought in 810.73 lakh tonnes, and buying usually continues until January or February. With most of the buying so far in Punjab and Haryana, the slow pace suggests drought could keep the season's total well below last year's.
Punjab leads with 80.89 lakh tonnes since its procurement began on 1 October, against a season target of 180 lakh tonnes. Haryana, which started on 29 September, has bought 30.77 lakh tonnes against a target of 58 lakh tonnes, and Tamil Nadu is third with 4.30 lakh tonnes. Uttar Pradesh has procured just 18,901 tonnes against a target of 65 lakh tonnes, with buying opened on 15 October in some areas and on 1 November in others; Himachal Pradesh has bought 16,581 tonnes.
Last season Punjab procured 156.50 lakh tonnes, followed by Chhattisgarh (141.04 lakh tonnes), Odisha (77.48), Telangana (71.86), Uttar Pradesh (62.30), Haryana (62.12) and Madhya Pradesh (51.71). The kharif marketing season 2026-27 runs from September 2026 to August 2027. The report for Rural Voice was written by Rajasree Singh.
Photo: Sankar.s / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Rural Voice
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