Punjab has procured around 17.8 million tonnes of paddy (Parmal rice) this year, up around 6.84 % against last year’s 16.8 MT despite the fact that the area under paddy cultivation this year was less compared to the last year. This is the highest paddy production in Punjab since 2014 and the figure could go even higher since the paddy procurement is still going on. Records show Punjab procured 11.9 MT of paddy in 2014 and 13.9 MT in 2015. The higher procurement of paddy this year is being attributed to favourable weather during the harvesting season and also good varieties of paddy. Farmers in the state prefer paddy, which has assured market, over Basmati rice, which has been seeing a poor market for the past few years. About 29.26 lakh hectares was under rice cultivation this year, of which 24.50 lakh hectares was under paddy and the rest under Basmati rice (fine quality rice). Last year, 30.10 lakh hectares was under rice cultivation, of which 25.10 lakh hectares was under paddy and the rest under Basmati.