Paddy| Despite a substantial decline in rice

Despite a substantial decline in rice procurement in Punjab and Haryana, the agencies have purchased 31.9 million tonne (mt) of the grain in the marketing year (2014-15), compared with 31.8 mt in the previous year. The government has announced an MSP for common and grade-A varieties of paddy at R1,410 and R1,450 per quintal respectively.