Thrissurതൃശ്ശൂർ

What the plan promotes

• ▸Paddy from the Kole wetlands: this unique low-lying eco-system (a Ramsar site spread over 13,600 ha of Thrissur and Malappuram) produces close to 50,000 tonnes of paddy a year, and supports integrated paddy-fish-duck-vegetable farming managed by Padasekharam/Padavu Samithi farmer collectives.
• ▸Plantation & horticulture crops worth Rs 1303.11 Cr of credit potential: coconut, rubber, arecanut, pepper, nutmeg and cashew, plus the GI Nendran (Chengali Kodan) banana, with VFPCK, CDB and NHB schemes already running and a gap for quality-planting-material nurseries and fruit processing.
• ▸Dairy (Rs 553.06 Cr) and poultry (Rs 300.52 Cr): dairy, poultry and goat-rearing are very popular; backyard cage-layer and broiler units are common, giving cumulative animal-husbandry potential of Rs 1045.68 Cr.
• ▸Fisheries (Rs 140.57 Cr): a 54-km coastline plus over 3,000 ha of water spread suitable for aquaculture, backed by the line departments and FFDA.
• ▸Food and agro processing (Rs 321.43 Cr): with 1,237 food/rice/flour/dal/oil/tea/coffee processing units already operating (Rs 6049.83 lakh capacity), there is room for fruit and vegetable processing tied to the Kole-land surplus.
• ▸MSME term and working capital (Rs 7499.87 Cr): Thrissur has the 2nd highest count of registered SSIs/MSMEs in Kerala and multiple industrial clusters, the single largest credit bucket in the plan.

Gaps the plan names

• ▸Storage and processing: existing CWC/SWC warehousing of about 65,000 MT is large-format; the district lacks smaller primary storage and cold-chain/processing units for fruits and vegetables.
• ▸Irrigation: of the 16 blocks, three are 'Semi Critical' with strict curbs on groundwater extraction; on-going irrigation projects must be completed fast to add nearly 29,000 ha of potential.
• ▸Soil and land: the highly undulating terrain with about 17,544 ha of cultivable wasteland and current fallows needs scientific land development, soil conservation and soil/nutrient-testing facilities in all blocks to issue Soil Health Cards.
• ▸Planting material and processing for plantation/horticulture: nurseries for quality planting material, wider precision-farming adoption and fruit-processing facilities are the major identified gaps.
• ▸Private investment in dispersed facilities: health and sanitation, waste management, renewable energy and marketing infrastructure are needed to supplement the 68 on-going public RIDF projects (Rs 368.99 Cr committed).