Yield in areas not affected by floods and rain likely to be higher, say State official.

By Prabhudatta Mishra

Punjab may see only a fall in rice production after the floods destroyed the paddy crop in about 2 lakh hectares, said a senior state official. The yield in non-affected areas is likely to be higher, he said. Last year, the State produced 14.36 million tonnes (mt) of rice, including Basmati.

Official sources said more paddy area has been affected compared to basmati area since the non-basmati crops are grown near the rivers where the floods’ impact was the maximum. The State has already sought central assistance to make the field ready for the rabi season crops, where there is no scope of getting any harvest.

As the Centre targets to buy 46.35 mt from the crop grown during the current kharif season from across the country which will commence from October, Punjab’s procurement is holds the key since the State contributes the highest quantity of rice.

Most profitable crop

The government had purchased about 47.4 mt of rice from kharif 2024 crop against a target of 51.16 mt, in which Punjab had contributed 11.61 mt, whereas other leading producers like Uttar Pradesh shared 3.87 mt, West Bengal 1.99 mt, Chhattisgarh 7.8 mt, Madhya Pradesh 2.92 mt.

The area under paddy in Punjab was 32.49 lakh hectare as of September 5 against 32.44 lh a year ago. The total area under all crops was 35.52 lh.

There is hardly any other crop as most farmers prefer paddy, including basmati, which is an aromatic rice variety having Geographical Indications.

As the Centre has been regularly talking about crop diversification, where Punjab’s paddy area is a key concern due to depleting ground water table, state officials said that notwithstanding what is the policy, farmers will continue to stick to it as it is the most profitable crop due to 100 per cent procurement system at minimum support price.

Stocks with FCI

“Punjab farmers will automatically shift to any crop from paddy if any government policy ensures same level of profit. Currently farmers are paid Rs 17,000 per hectare for diversification whereas the average yield in Punjab was 44.28 quintals per hectare (2024-25),” said a state government official, adding by selling the paddy from one hectare land at MSP (Rs 2320/quintal), a farmer earned more than Rs 1 lakh.

But, the Centre has been trying to reduce rice procurement due to the issue of finding buyers to dispose of the surplus grain after meeting the official requirement under food security law and other welfare schemes, estimated at about 41 mt per year.

Current stock of the government, managed by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) was 36.91 mt as on September 1, in addition to 16.90 mt of paddy which is 11.32 mt in terms of rice, taking the overall position to 48.23 mt, which is more than the annual requirement.

Published Date: September 18, 2025