Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has urged the Centre to urgently clear foodgrain stocks from the state before the peak arrival of paddy, stressing that adequate storage space must be ensured for smooth procurement and to prevent difficulties for farmers in mandis.In a letter to Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi, Mann sought immediate movement of 6 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of rice by October 10 and 15 LMT of wheat during October. He said nearly 40 LMT of wheat stocks were occupying space at rice mills and mandi yards.Mann said the stocks must be cleared to create adequate space for incoming paddy and ensure that farmers can bring their produce to mandis without facing storage-related hurdles.The CM said Punjab had requested the movement of 15 LMT of rice and 10-12 LMT of wheat during September 2026 to complete the delivery of rice from the kharif marketing season (KMS) 2025-26 and clear wheat stocks lying in rice mills and mandi yards before the start of KMS 2026-27.“However, only 8.3 LMT of rice and 4.3 LMT of wheat have been moved out of the state from September 1 to 29, 2026,” Mann said.He said due to a persistent shortage of storage space with the Food Corporation of India (FCI), only 99.50 LMT (94%) of custom-milled rice from KMS 2025-26 had been delivered by the end of September against the due quantity of 105.64 LMT, leaving nearly 6 LMT to be delivered.“With the next kharif marketing season having commenced and peak arrivals expected around October 10, delivery of all pending rice to the FCI by then is of paramount importance so as to avoid carry-over of balance paddy stocks in the next kharif season and also to prevent complications in stock accounting and recycling of paddy/rice,” he said.Mann also said the delay in milling was already causing unrest among millers. He said if rice delivery went beyond mid-October, millers might not come forward for storage and milling of paddy, which could result in unrest among other stakeholders, especially farmers.