•Farmers can significantly increase income by processing vegetables like tomatoes, onions, and peas into products such as powder, paste, chips, or frozen items, preventing spoilage.
•Various products like dehydrated vegetables, frozen food, purees, powders, pickles, and chips can be made from potatoes, tomatoes, onions, and other produce.
•The Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme offers a 35% subsidy (up to 10 lakh) and bank loans for setting up processing units.
•The scheme encourages unemployed youth and women to start home-based businesses, with application through the Horticulture Department or online.
•Unit setup costs range from 2-5 lakh for small units to 50 lakh-2 crore for large automatic plants, depending on scale and machinery.
