Small-scale growers in one region of the UK have been given new planning guidance to make it easier to establish commercial businesses.
The new guidance from Powys County Council aims to make it simpler for growers to set up market gardens or smallholdings.
The advice covers the need to have a home nearby when running a small-scale horticultural business.
Evidence suggests that fruit and vegetable businesses can be both highly productive and profitable, the council said.
However, despite this, a large proportion of the vegetables and fruit aren't grown in Powys or even in the UK, it added.
The council’s chief officer, Matt Perry said: "There is great potential for more of the food we buy to be grown closer to home, boosting the economy, providing a more predictable supply of fresh produce and reducing our carbon footprints."
The council also said small-scale growers should be able to access financial support for their plans through the Welsh government’s Food Business Accelerator Scheme.
It added that local horticultural businesses could create high productivity and profitability from relatively small sites.
“Since the 1950s fruit and vegetable production has greatly reduced and there is great potential for re-localisation of these and other foods,” it explained.
“Smaller holdings can also generate wider environmental and other benefits and help support healthier lives through producing fresh and nutritious local food.”
