CHANDIGARH, Oct. 31 -- For many farmers in Punjab, the recent paddy season has been marked by despair and an estimated Rs.10,000-crore in financial losses. The crisis stems from a combination of prolonged procurement delays and extensive crop damage caused by floods and unseasonal rains. A wave of frustration is sweeping through the mandis. After waiting for months for their crops to mature, farmers are now seeing their produce lose value because damage and discoloration have exceeded the acceptable 5% limit. "The grain of my produce had already discoloured by the time the crop was ready for harvest," said Gurjit Singh, a farmer from Kapurthala. He said that due to the high moisture, he and other farmers had trouble selling their harvest on the minimum support price (MSP). According to the state food and civil supplies department, total paddy arrivals are likely to touch 150 lakh tonnes, the lowest in nine years and nearly 20% less than the initial projection. Before floods the total procurement was pegged to Rs.180-185 crore. Floods and untimely rainfall in August and September have not only reduced yield but also delayed harvesting. By the time grain started arriving in mandis in October moisture content was above permissible limits, and the Centre's refusal to relax norms for discoloured grain has compounded distress. Agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said farmers have faced "a double blow" this season - weather damaged the crop and the entire season has been extended and the Centre has failed to give relief. Amid the ongoing paddy procurement season, mandis across Ludhiana district have so far received nearly 8 lakh tonnes of paddy, significantly lower than last year's arrivals of 16.5 lakh tonnes. Of this, 48,000 tonnes arrived on Wednesday. In terms of purchase, 7.6 lakh tonnes have been procured till Thursday while 6.8 lakh tonnes have been lifted. Farmers of the south Malwa region have complained of a loss of yield in non-basmati varieties. Stakeholders said that paddy growers are reporting a loss of production between 5-15% across the southwest region of the state. Chief agriculture officer of Fazilka, Harpreet Pal Kaur said that crop cutting experiment results were yet to be analysed as harvesting in over 75% is still awaited. Gurchet Singh, a farmer from Mansa, said that as harvesting was affected due to rains, this time the mandis did not have a glut-like situation. Bathinda arhtiya association president Satish Kumar said that the procurement operations remained smooth this time, but a sizable section of farmers faced losses. Bathinda district mandi officer (DMO) Gaurav Garg said that of the 7 lakh tonnes of paddy arrived till Wednesday, nearly 5 lakh tonnes have been lifted. The growers in Doaba region are also staring at financial loss due to reduced paddy yield. Hit by unfavourable weather conditions and crop diseases, the farmers have been reporting reduction of yield by 6-8 quintals per acre in many areas. As per reports, the paddy harvesting is at its fag-end in Doaba region, with over 80% paddy area was harvested till date....