★ Government rice procurement has crossed 4.8 million tonnes (48 lt), more than double the volume purchased during the same period last year. Punjab has bought 1.846 million tonnes of paddy—three times higher than last year’s 0.544 million tonnes—while Haryana’s procurement has risen 54% to 2.308 million tonnes. Tamil Nadu’s purchase has jumped from 0.232 million tonnes to 0.595 million tonnes. Uttarakhand has also seen a sharp rise, with procurement at 79,570 tonnes compared with just 1,759 tonnes last year.

★ For the 2025–26 marketing season (October–September), the Centre has set a rice procurement target of 46.349 million tonnes, against 54.522 million tonnes procured last year. The government aims to purchase 11.6 million tonnes from Punjab and 3.6 million tonnes from Haryana.

★ Procurement began on September 1 in Tamil Nadu and will start from November 1 in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh.

★ The Agriculture Ministry has not yet released the official kharif crop estimate, but paddy acreage this season has reached a record 44.158 million hectares, up from 43.568 million hectares last year. Experts expect overall rice procurement to reach record levels this year.