Rain soaks paddy in Punjab mandis; 7-8 lakh bags hit in flooded Fazilka yard

Heavy, unseasonal rain on Sunday, October 11, 2026, soaked paddy lying in grain markets across Punjab's Malwa belt and in parts of Haryana, just as the kharif buying season was gathering pace. Harvested and standing paddy, basmati and cotton were hit in Bathinda, Muktsar, Faridkot, Fazilka, Mansa and Barnala. In Fazilka, the grain market was left under several feet of water, and market committee sources said around seven to eight lakh bags of sold and unsold paddy were lying in the yard. In Haryana, the Ambala grain market also flooded, with stacks of paddy sacks under water. Farmers and commission agents in both places blamed poor drainage and said earlier pleas for protective steps were ignored. Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak, who toured mandis in the region, said the state would buy all the grain brought to market.

Punjab is one of the largest suppliers of rice to the central pool, so what happens in its mandis in October matters far beyond the state. The buying season has only just begun: the state has bought roughly a ninth of its 180 lakh tonne target. That means most of the crop is still in the fields or on its way to market, and a wet spell now can affect both the grain already sitting in yards and the paddy still standing.

The immediate risk is quality. Government agencies buy paddy at the support price only if it meets fixed norms on moisture and discoloured or damaged grain. Paddy that has been rained on must be dried before it can pass those checks, which means longer waits in crowded yards, more handling cost for farmers, and a real chance that some lots are rejected or sold to private traders below the support price. Harmeet Singh Qadian, president of the Bharti Kisan Union (Qadian), has asked the state to order a special crop-damage survey, known as a girdawari, announce compensation, and seek higher permissible limits for moisture and discoloured grain.

The episode also exposes a familiar weak point: storage and drainage at the mandi level. A grain yard that floods after one night of heavy rain, with lakhs of bags in the open, shows how much depends on tarpaulins, covered platforms and fast lifting of bought grain. Every day grain stays in the open raises the cost of the next spell of bad weather.

Short-term: Arrivals and buying in the affected mandis are likely to slow for several days while wet paddy is dried and yards are cleared. Farmers whose grain was soaked face drying costs and the risk of quality cuts. Rice millers and commission agents will also see delays in their work.

Long-term: If losses turn out to be large, the state may need to compensate farmers and could fall short of its procurement target. The episode adds pressure on the Punjab and Haryana governments, and the central food agencies, to invest in covered storage, better drainage and quicker lifting in grain markets.

Who is affected: Paddy and basmati growers in Malwa and in Haryana's Ambala area, commission agents (arhtiyas), mandi labourers, rice millers, state procurement agencies, and, further down the line, the central grain stock that feeds the public distribution system.

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