The Punjab government would set up five more maize dryer units. These units, according to agriculture minister Tota Singh, would come up at Machhiwara, Nakodar, Kapurthala, Bhogpur and Phaglana (Hoshiarpur).
The government would make a total expenditure of ` 26 crore on the five units.
The state government has already set up two maize dryer plants in Hoshiarpur and Nawanshahr districts at a cost of ` 18 crore. The minister said these units dried maize as per international parameters.
Tota Singh also demanded that the Centre should fix ` 1,815 per quintal as the minimum support price (MSP) of maize to develop it as an alternative crop in place of paddy and demanded that maize be procured by the central government.
Meanwhile, director, agriculture, Dr Mangal Singh said the area under maize had registered two-fold increase this year compared to last year.
