Wayanad Coffee Cardamom Adivasi Tribal Agriculture Kerala

Wayanad district in the Western Ghats highlands at 700-2100 metres altitude is Kerala's coffee belt, growing Arabica and Robusta coffee on plantation estates established by the British and now managed by Tamil and Malayali estate owners, alongside smallholder adivasi (Paniya, Adiya, Kurumba, Kattunaikka) farmers who grow coffee, cardamom, pepper, and vanilla on 1-5 hectare plots. Wayanad's indigenous tribal communities practise forest food gathering — collecting wild tubers, bamboo shoots, honey, and medicinal roots — in the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary and Nagarhole-Wayanad forest corridor that connects Mudumalai and Bandipur reserves. Wayanad's soil erosion from tea monoculture on steep slopes and the Mullaperiyar dam water dispute with Tamil Nadu are recurring environmental and political issues.