Rain soaks paddy in Punjab's mandis as the State reports 20 lakh tonnes bought against a 180 lakh tonne target

11 October 2026

Untimely rain on Sunday, 11 October 2026, drenched paddy stored in grain markets and damaged standing crops in several Punjab districts. The Fazilka grain market was flooded, and paddy lying in the open at Khanna, Batala and Wadala Granthi mandis was soaked. The India Meteorological Department's warning for 11 October put Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Sangrur, Patiala, Kapurthala, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Fatehgarh Sahib on red alert. Food and Civil Supplies Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak, visiting grain markets in Bathinda and Muktsar districts, said the State would procure all the grain. He said the State's paddy target this season is 180 lakh metric tonnes, and that of the 21 lakh MT that had reached mandis, 20 lakh MT had been purchased. Farmers said harvesting in waterlogged fields could be delayed by four to seven days.