Five maize dryer units to come up in Punjab

Punjab government today said it will set up five maize dryer facilities in the state as part of plans to promote maize crop.
The five dryer units will come up at Machiwara, Nakoder, Kapurthala, Bhogpur and Phaglana (Hoshiarpur), involving an outlay of Rs 26 crore.
"Five units will be set up at a cost of Rs 26 crore for which central government has given its approval for the funds," Punjab Agriculture Minister Tota Singh said here.
The Minister said the state government has already installed two maize dryer plants at Hoshiarpur and Nawan Shehar districts with the cost of Rs 18 crore to dry maize.

Meanwhile, he asked the Centre to fix Rs 1,815 per quintal as MSP of maize to develop it as an alternate crop in place of paddy.
He also sought 100 per cent procurement of maize by the Union Government on the MSP.