page_title: Wayanad district
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Wayanad district / Economy
caption_attribution_description: English: Wayanad district, Kerala state, India.
context_page_description: Wayanad is an Indian district in the north-east of Kerala state with administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is set high on the Western Ghats with altitudes ranging from 700 to 2100 meters. The district was formed on 1 November 1980 as the 12th district in Kerala by carving out areas from Kozhikode and Kannur districts. About 885.92 sq.km of area of the district is under forest. Wayanad has three municipal towns—Kalpetta, Mananthavady and Sulthan Bathery. There are many indigenous tribals in this area.
  Wayanad district is bordered by Karnataka to north and north-east, Tamil Nadu to south-east, Malappuram to south, Kozhikode to south-west and Kannur to north-west. Pulpally in Wayanad boasts of the only Lava- Kusha temple in Kerala and Vythiri has the only mirror temple in Kerala which is a Jain temple. The edicts and caves of Ambukuthi Mala and another evidence state that the place is as old as the beginning of the New Age Civilisation.
context_section_description: Agriculture is the backbone of the economy of the district. Most of the lands in the district are use for agricultural purposes. More than half of its population are engaged in agriculture in order to earn their livelihood. The chief agricultural crops in the district are Coffee, tea, cocoa, pepper, plantain, vanilla, rice, coconut, cardamom, tea, ginger, etc. Wayanad is known for its rice production. The two rice of the district namely Wayanad Jeerakasala rice and Wayanad Gandhakasala rice has their different properties. Another source of economy in the district is the cattle farming. The tourism sector of the district is very developed and every year a huge chunk of revenue comes from this sector helps in its economy to a great extent. The district is scantily industrialised. In the name of industry, there is only Wayanad dairy of Milma (Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation) at Kalpetta and a few small scale industries.
  In 2006, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Wayanad one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the two districts in Kerala currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).
caption: Parakkadavu junction, Pulpally
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