Ludhiana, June 10 -- Paddy transplantation began in Ludhiana on Monday with the agriculture department expecting around 2.58 lakh hectares of area to be cultivated this Kharif season.

This Kharif season the state government divided the state into three zones to effectively facilitate farmers in paddy transplantation. It begins on June 1 for Zone 1, June 5 for Zone 2, and June 9 June for Zone 3. The process is expected to continue for over a month.

"Last year around 2.58 lakh hectare area was cultivated with paddy and basmati. This time, we are expecting it to stay near that only," said chief agricultural officer Gurdeep Singh. "It only started today. This will go on for well over a month," he added.

While the state government has been ...