Paddy procurement in Punjab will begin on Thursday, with the state facing an acute shortage of storage space. The state government has set a target of procuring 180 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of paddy during the upcoming season.Though official procurement begins on Thursday, early-sown paddy has been arriving at several mandis for the past 10 days. The government agencies can now purchase that paddy from October 1. In Rajpura, commission agent Mohinder Krishan Chand Arora said nearly 2 lakh bags of paddy had arrived and would be purchased after procurement begins on Thursday.If the weather remains favourable, a smooth procurement season is expected in the poll-bound state. The season is politically significant for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP, which is seeking to make political inroads into the state.The AAP government is working to ensure hassle-free procurement and avoid a repeat of last year’s problems, including delayed lifting. It has tied up with rice millers and relaxed conditions to ensure they accommodate the new crop. The procurement season is also the last major crop procurement season of the AAP government’s current term, putting the arrangements under scrutiny from Opposition parties.The BJP, meanwhile, is seeking to woo farmers by reassuring them that procurement on the minimum support price (MSP) will continue. The Centre has started pressing more rakes to move previous years’ foodgrains from Punjab’s granaries to other recipient states and ease the storage bottleneck.Vijay Kalra, president of the Federation of Arhtiya Associations of Punjab, said almost all issues had been resolved before procurement began. “Only the issue about our commission remains unresolved. Traditionally, our commission was 2.5 per cent of the MSP, but it has now been capped at Rs 50.74 per quintal of paddy purchased. This translates into a loss of Rs 200 crore in commission for arhtiyas for the 180 LMT of paddy that is expected to be purchased,” he said.He further added that despite the unresolved demand, arhtiyas were ready to procure the grain.As many as 1,886 procurement centres have been established across the state, while the Punjab Mandi Board has completed arrangements for the season. The Centre has sanctioned a cash credit limit of Rs 42,786.68 crore for paddy procurement. Around five lakh bales of gunny bags have also been arranged.The state government has also made arrangements to prevent the entry of paddy from neighbouring states. Inter-state checkpoints will be set up as part of a joint operation by the Punjab Police and the Mandi Board.