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AGRICULTURE

Agriculture is the state's main economic activity. Cash crops which account for a substantial area under cultivation, earn a sizeable amount of foreign exchange. Commercial crops in general, with the exception of cashew, recorded increase in production. Coconut production was 6013 million nuts in 2005-06, production of rubber reached 7.34 lakh tons and coffee 60,175 tons in 2005-06. The area under rice and production of rice continued to decline. The area declined from 2.89 lakh hectares in 2004-05 to 2.75 lakh hectares in 2005-06. Rice production decreased from 6.67 lakh tons in 2004-05 to 6.29 lakh tons in 2005-06. The production of Ginger was 38,747 Tons, Tea 56,348 tons, Arecanut 1,10,641 million nuts, pepper 75,704 tons, and Turmeric 6477 Tons in 2005-06. However, the major crop Cashew recorded a fall in production from 60,584 to 57,624 tons.

Kerala accounts for 1.13% of the total Cattle population in the country. About 83% of the breedable cattle in the state is crossbred, made possible by expanding the facilities and veterinary services. Milk production has decreased from 27.18 lakh tons in 2001-02 to 20.63 lakh tons in 2005-06. The per-capita availability of milk stood at 233 grams per day during 2004.

The total fishermen population in the State is estimated at 11.03 lakhs. The total fish catch during 2005-06 was 6.37 lakh tons and out of this, the share of marine sector was 5.59 lakh tons and that of inland sector was 0.78 lakh tons. Kerala's share in the total exports of marine products was 19% in terms of quantity and 17% in terms of value in 2005-06.

FOREST

Kerala is endowed with a veritable treasure house of natural ever green tropical forests.  The Western Ghats represent one of the world's 18 Hotspots of bio-diversity and is considered to be a repository of rare and endangered flora and fauna.  The recorded forest area is 11,244.664 Sq.kms.  The percentage of forest cover in Kerala is 28.98.  Although this is higher than the national average of 19.5  percent, Kerala cannot afford to be complacent in the preservation of forest wealth.  The forests yield industrial raw materials such as bamboo, wood pulp, charcoal, gums and resins as well as ivory and rare timbers such as teak and rosewood.  The area covered by the two national parks, 12 wild life sanctuaries and one biosphere coming under the category of protected areas in Kerala comes to 2.32 lakh hectares.  This is 25 percent of the total area under forests and 6 percent of the total area of the state.

INDUSTRY

Kerala remains an industrially backward state as compared to other states of India.  As on 31st March 2006, the total number of Joint stock companies in Kerala was 15510, of which 14062 are  public Limited and 1448 are private Limited.  The total number of Government companies is 109 with 58 in private limited and 51 in public limited. Coir and Cashew are two of the largest traditional industries in the State.   Handloom and Bamboo based industries are well developed.  Other important industries are Rubber, Tea, Ceramics, Electric and Electronic appliances, telephone cables, transformers, bricks and tiles etc.  Kerala has large deposits of rare and important minerals like the thorium-bearing monozite.  The State's share of central sector investment was Rs. 16828 crores which accounts for 2.59% of total investments as against 2.56 during 2003-04.

TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION

In proportion to its area, the state has the most developed road system and traffic flow in India. The transport system of the state consists of 1.61 lakh km of road, 1148 km railways, 1687 km of inland water ways and 111 statue miles of Airways. The length of National Highways in the State is 1525.57 Kms. which constitute 2.3 percent of National Highways in the country. The total number of motor vehicles stood at 35,59,504 as on 31.3.2006. Out of 127574 passenger buses and stage carriers in the State, the number of buses owned by K.S.R.T.C was 4668 in 2006. Total railway route length of Kerala for 2004-05 stood at 1148 Kms. There is one major port at Kochi, three intermediate ports at Neendakara, Alappuzha and Kozhikode and 15 minor ports. There are three airports in the State at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. 5,074 post offices are now functioning in Kerala. The total number of telephone exchanges comes to 1223.

POWER

Kerala is a land of rivers and water is the most precious natural wealth in the State.   The rivers, rainfall and terrain together provide for ample facilities for generating hydro-electric power.  The further development of hydro power has been held up due to environmental consideration.  A new thrust is being given to develop hydro power from such small and medium projects, with very  little adverse impact on the environment.  The total installed capacity as on August 2006 was 3565.66 MW.   The total number of consumers stood at 85.48 lakhs.  A major policy initiative of the State Government is to involve private sector participation in augmenting power supply to meet the growing demand for power. 

LITERATURE

Literature and learning in both Tamil and Sanskrit, flourished from the 2nd century A.D. onwards. The Malayalam language, though an off shoot of Tamil, has absorbed the best in Sanskrit and has a prolific literature. Notable names in Malayalam poetry are Thunchath Ezhuthachan and Kunchan Nambiar and Cherusseri among classical poets, and Vallathol Narayana Menon, Kumaran Asan, Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer, Changampuzha Krishna Pillai, Edappalli Raghavan Pillai, Gnanapeetham Award Winner G. Sankara Kurup, Vennikulam Gopalakurup, P. Kunhiraman Nair, Edasseri Govindan Nair, Vyloppalli Sreedhara Menon, Balamani Amma, Vayalar Rama Varma and P. Bhaskaran  among the later luminaries. The literateurs who contributed much in enriching the language were Kerala Varma Valia Koyil Thampuran and A.R. Raja Raja Varma who is also known as Kerala Panini. The German Missionary Dr. Herman Gundert's name stands out as he published the first English-Malayalam dictionary in 1872. Among the contemporary geniuses in the field of poetry, the names of O.N.V. Kurup, A. Ayyappan, Sachithanandan, Sugatha Kumari and Kamala Das stand out.

The first Malayalam novel was Appu Nedungadi's "Kundalatha" published in 1887. The novel "Indulekha" by O. Chandu Menon came two years later. The greats among the Malayalam novelists include C.V. Raman Pillai, Thakazhi Sivashankara Pillai (Gnanapeetham Award Winner), P. Kesava Dev, Vaikkom Mohammed Basheer, P.C. Kuttikrishnan (Uroob), S.K. Pottekkat (Gnanapeetham Award Winner) Ponkunnam Varkey, K.E. Mathai (Parappuram), M.K. Menon (Vilasini), G. Vivekanandan, M.T. Vasudevan Nair(Gnanapeetham Award Winner), C. Radhakrishanan, O.V. Vijayan, M. Mukundan and George Varghese (Kakkanadan).

In the field of drama, Thoppil Bhasi, K.T. Mohammed, G. Sankara Pillai, N.N. Pillai, S.L. Puram Sadanandan, T.N. Gopinathan Nair and Jagathi N.K. Achari and many others have contributed much in reflecting the socio-political development in the State.

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