Chandigarh, Oct 25 : The Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board on Wednesday said 577.46 lakh quintals basmati and non-basmati paddy and 40.84 lakh quintals bajra have been procured. The procurement of paddy this year has exceeded the previous year by 17 lakh quintals. The minimum support price (MSP) for common paddy is fixed at Rs 2,183 per quintal, while the MSP for Grade-A paddy is Rs 2,203 per quintal. In 2022-23, the MSP for common paddy was Rs 2,040, and for Grade-A paddy was Rs 2,060 a quintal. During 2022-23, a total of 945.68 lakh quintals of paddy were procured. Although Haryana is currently behind this target by 368.22 lakh quintals, it is expected that paddy procurement in Haryana will set a record in the coming days, it said. Notably, along with paddy procurement, the timely lifting of paddy is also being ensured in the state's mandis. A total of 516.85 lakh quintals of paddy have been lifted and 43.46 lakh quintals are yet to be lifted. Timely lifting has reduced the hardships of arhtiyas (commission agents) and farmers and lowered the risk of spoilage in open fields. Similarly, the procurement of millet in the state's mandis is progressing smoothly. So far, 40.84 lakh quintals of millet have been procured, out of which 36.34 lakh quintals of millet have been lifted. Only 3.69 lakh quintals of millet are remaining to be lifted. In 2022-23, 19.94 lakh quintals of millet arrived in the mandis, while this year 40.84 lakh quintals of millet have been procured, which is double compared to the previous year. The MSP for bajra in 2022-23 was fixed at Rs 2,350 per quintal. For 2023-24, the government has fixed the MSP for bajara at Rs 2,500 per quintal. The state has included this crop in the Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana so as to ensure that farmers do not incur any losses. /IANS