Chandigarh, May 23 : More than 125.57 lakh metric tons wheat has been procured in Punjab, state Minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Lal Chand Kataruchak said on Tuesday. He ordered closure of wheat procurement operations that started on April 1 in the state from May 26. The minister said that 121.07 lakh metric tons has been procured by government procurement agencies, and nearly 4.5 lakh metric tons by private traders. A total of Rs 24,693 crore have been paid as minimum support price (MSP) to 809,149 farmers directly in their bank accounts. He said the government had operationalised 2,780 procurement centres. With a drastic dip in the arrivals of wheat in certain parts of the state from May 10, their number was reduced to 2,628. The minister said although the timeline for closure of procurement season was May 31, but seeing the negligible pace of wheat arrivals in recent days it has been decided to close all marketing yards by May 25. /IANS