Palakkad Rice Gap Canal Teak Silent Valley Kerala

Palakkad district straddles the Palakkad Gap — the only significant break in the Western Ghats through which the northeast monsoon enters Kerala — where the Bharathapuzha river's irrigation infrastructure (Malampuzha and Chittur-Thirumurthy dam systems) supports Kerala's most extensive paddy cultivation, producing rice varieties including Jyothi and Kanchana in the Palakkad plains. Palakkad's Silent Valley National Park at the district's northern end contains the last undisturbed primary rainforest of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve — the proposed Silent Valley hydroelectric project was stopped in 1983 after a landmark conservation campaign, protecting the habitat of the lion-tailed macaque and Kerala's endangered biodiversity. Palakkad is also Kerala's principal producer of teak timber from forest plantations managed by the Kerala Forest Development Corporation.