Kattikulam: As fields continue to be replaced by banana plantations, paddy fields are deteriorating in Wayanad. According to Land Using Data 2019, the district is left with only 133.25 sq. kms of paddy fields. 

Around 25.96 kms of land has been converted to banana plantations. Whereas,1.86 sq. kms of paddy field was cleared for cultivating other crops and 0.77 sq. kms for construction of houses. 

As per the report, there has been a 45 per cent decrease in paddy cultivation within the last 10 years. Meantime, plantain cultivation in the district has expanded to 12,842 hectares from just 1054 hectares in the 1990s.

The conversion of paddy lands has been on the rise in the district on a large scale, for more than two decades.