Bathinda, Sept. 24 -- A week after the procurement of non-basmati varieties commenced, most of the districts from the southern Punjab are yet to see its arrival in the mandis.Information gathered from the field on Tuesday stated that while raw basmati has started hitting the mandis, harvesting of paddy is expected to gain momentum from next week. Official sources said that all arrangements are in place for smooth procurement of the paddy and the district authorities are making all efforts to curtail the environment hazardous activity of burning of crop residue after harvesting the crop. Mansa is the first district in the south Malwa region to register paddy arrival.District mandi officer (DMO) of Mansa, Aman Mangla said 18 tonne paddy arrived at Bareta mandi on September 18 and the entire stock was purchased.Faridkot DMO Manish Kumar said that the first batch of non-basmati arrived at Kotkapura today.Vidhan Sabha speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan visited mandi in his home turf of Kotkapura on where paddy arrival season was inaugurated with a small quantity.An official spokesperson of Fazilka said that the district is yet to record the arrival of paddy. According to the Bathinda DMO Gaurav Garg, presently, the basmati varieties are arriving in the mandis and farmers have yet to start harvesting non-basmati rice. "We expect that the harvesting will gain momentum from the first week of October after which the mandis will experience heavy arrival of the crop," added Garg. Mansa deputy commissioner Navjot Kaur said that 105 farmers were felicitated today for practicing zero-burning of the crop residue. Ferozepur DC Deepshikha said that awareness campaigns are underway in the district ahead of the peak harvest to motivate farmers for the safe disposal of the organic waste of the paddy. The government procurement of paddy for the kharif season 2025-26 commenced on Tuesday in Sangrur district. The first heap of paddy, brought by farmer Rajinder Singh, was auctioned under the supervision of deputy commissioner Rahul Chaba. An estimated 1,354,166 metric tonnes of paddy is expected to arrive in the district during this season. Chandigarh Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday said that the state government will ensure smooth, hassle-free, and timely procurement of paddy in the state. Reviewing the ongoing paddy procurement during a meeting held here, Mann said that farmers of the state should not face any inconvenience for the sale of their produce in the mandis. a statement....