Kollam Cashew Processing Coir Fishing Port Kerala

Kollam (Quilon) district on Kerala's coast is India's historical cashew processing hub — the Kollam port exported the first cashew kernels to European markets in the 1920s and the district's hundreds of processing factories still employ 150,000+ women workers. Kollam's Ashtamudi Lake — the largest backwater lake in Kerala — supports a productive clam, oyster, and prawn fishery alongside the boatyards and coir spinning units on its banks. The district's Paravur paper mill (established 1925) produces newsprint from sugarcane bagasse; Kollam's Polayathuruth bird sanctuary in Ashtamudi Lake is a small but significant cormorant and egret nesting colony.