A one-day technical workshop for women self-help groups (SHG) members was held in Mandya on Wednesday to highlight the benefits of the Prime Minister’s Micro Food Enterprise (PM-FME) Formalization Scheme.
The workshop was inaugurated by Mandya Zilla Panchayat (ZP), CEO KR Nandini, who emphasized the importance of adding value to agricultural products through which rural women can achieve economic progress.
The workshop was organized on the occasion of International Rural Women’s Day in collaboration with the Department of Food Industries, Karnataka State Agricultural Produce Processing and Export Corporation and the district administration.
Ms. Nandni operated a groundnut oil extraction machine on the occasion of the inauguration and spoke about the benefits of adding value to agricultural products instead of selling them directly in the market. Agricultural produce should undergo processing, packaging and branding, she said, pointing out that this leads to increased income of farmers and rural women.
The ZP CEO said that rural women are the backbone of agriculture and the farming sector, but empowerment cannot come through physical labor alone and requires adaptation to new technologies.
She said that agriculture can be transformed into a business that is profitable and suggested that in future, the government should purchase value-added food products directly from women SHGs to stimulate demand for the products.
Ashok, Joint Director of Agriculture, Mandya, said the district generated around ₹2,000 crore through agricultural turnover, adding that this could increase to ₹6,000 crore in case of value addition to the production.
Roopashree, Assistant Director of Horticulture, talked about beekeeping or beekeeping besides the demand for other products to which the department would extend support. There were posts on animal husbandry and fisheries and officials talked about various government schemes that support SHGs and farmers in this venture.
Published – 16 Oct 2025 0:25 IST
