“Rice bowl of Kerala” is the
synonym for Palakkad. The net cultivated area of the district is 284
lakh hectares, ie.,64% of the geographical area . Major portion of the
cultivable land is used for raising food crops. All food crops together
account for about 80% of the gross cropped area and paddy alone accounts
for about 60% of it. Coconut, groundnut, sugarcane, pepper, banana and
cashew are some of the major cash crops raised.
The Intensive Agricultural
Development Programme, popularly known as the Package Programme, was
started in the district in 1962-63 in five development blocks. The
programme was implemented in stages in the entire district, except the
Attappady tribal block. Introduction of high yielding varieties of paddy
seeds has augmented the production of paddy considerably.
The Intensive Paddy Development Unit
Programme, or the “Ela” programme, and the T and V programme were
introduced in the district in 1971 and 1982 respectively. These
programmes were discontinued and Krishi Bhavans started functioning in
1987 in all panchayats and municipalities.
There are a number of agricultural
institutions like the Regional Agricultural Research Station, Soil
Testing Laboratory, Fertilizer Quality Control Laboratory, Mushroom
laboratory and Agricultural Engineering Workshop.
Seeds of different paddy varieties are produced and
distributed through the five state seed farms in the district situated
at Alathur, Anangadi, kongad, Kannanur and Muthalamada. At the 325
hectare orange and vegetable farm at Nelliayampathy, orange, coffee,
cardamom, mango and vegetables are cultivated. The fruit processing unit
in this farm is popular for its squashes , jams and jellies. The
Integrated Seed Development Farm at Eruthiampathy is mainly intended for
multiplication of green manure, seeds, sugarcane, cotton and groundnut.
The central Orchard, Pattambi and Holticultural Development Farm,
Malampuzha are some of the other important institutions where coconut,
vegetables, mango ornamentals are cultivated. Training centres such as
RATTC, Malampuzha and F.T.C. Alathur started functioning for imparting
training to agricultural officers and farmers respectively. A special
rice production programme with financial assistance of Rs.20
crores is being implemented from 1994 – 95 for boosting paddy
production.
