Chandigarh, Sep 22 - Amid all the talk of drought-like conditions in many parts of the country this year, Punjab is targeting a record paddy procurement this season.

The state government would procure 140 lakh tonnes of paddy for the central pool during current season, senior food and supplies department officials said here Tuesday.

This is much higher that the 132.17 lakh tonnes procured last year.

'To avoid any inconvenience to the farmers, adequate arrangements for paddy procurement have been completed and 7.5 lakh gunny bags are being arranged for the procurement,' Punjab's Director of Food and Supplies Dharamjit Singh Grewal said.

Grewal said that over 600,000 gunny bags had already arrived.