Target Set for Procurement of 719.50 Lakh Tonnes of Paddy in Kharif Season

New Delhi: The Central Government has set a target to procure approximately 719.50 lakh tonnes of paddy from farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) at the national level during the 2026-27 Kharif marketing season; this quantity is equivalent to 482.40 lakh tonnes of rice. For the 2025-26 season, the procurement target was set at 720.50 lakh tonnes of paddy (equivalent to 482.80 lakh tonnes of rice), whereas actual procurement reached 810 lakh tonnes. Paddy procurement commences on October 1st.

This year, the government has set a target to procure 180 lakh tonnes of paddy from Punjab, an increase from the previous year's 173 lakh tonnes. In fact, the area under paddy cultivation in Punjab has risen to a record 32.90 lakh hectares this year, marking an increase of 30,000 hectares over the previous year's 32.60 lakh hectares. Favorable weather and monsoon conditions are expected to result in excellent paddy production in the state during the current Kharif season.

Rahul Chauhan, Director of IGrain India, states that Punjab's farmers are aware that the Central Government will procure the majority of their paddy; consequently, they place greater emphasis on increasing the acreage for this crop. Punjab possesses robust irrigation facilities, and the area dependent on rainfall is minimal; therefore, any shortfall in monsoon rainfall has little impact on the paddy crop in the region.

Last year, against a set target of 173 lakh tonnes, actual government procurement of paddy in Punjab reached only 157 lakh tonnes, which was equivalent to 105 lakh tonnes of rice. Although actual paddy procurement in Chhattisgarh reached 141 lakh tonnes—surpassing the set target of 109 lakh tonnes—during the 2025-26 Kharif marketing season, the Central Government has once again maintained the procurement target at 109 lakh tonnes, which is considered equivalent to 95 lakh tonnes of rice.

In contrast, for the 2026-27 Kharif marketing season, the paddy procurement target has been raised by 19 percent to 28 lakh tonnes for Tamil Nadu and by 5 percent to 25 lakh tonnes for Andhra Pradesh.