New Delhi (PTI): Paddy procurement has risen by 20 per cent at 14.39 million tonnes so far in the 2008-09 marketing season beginning October.

Paddy purchase by the Centre stood at 12 million tonnes (MT) in the same period last year, an official statement said.

"In terms of rice, the procurement comes to 9.86 MT against 8.21 MT last year," it said.

Punjab leads the pack of states that contributed to the central pool with procurement from the region reaching 11.88 MT, followed by Haryana (1.77 MT), Tamil Nadu (0.25 MT) and Uttar Pradesh (0.24 MT).

Other states from where state-run agencies have procured paddy include Orissa, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Maharashtra, the statement said.

Food Corporation of India, the nodal agency for procurement and distribution of food grains, had purchased record 285 lakh tonnes of rice in 2007-08 marketing season. It also procured record 226 lakh tonnes of wheat this year.