In Kuttanad there are huge tracts of paddy fields which have been reclaimed by drying up backwaters. During the first half of the 20th Century as there were frequent shortages of food grains, the then Maharaja of Travancore, granted a special permission to the farmers of Kuttanad to open up new tracts of land by reclaiming the backwaters. What followed was a stupendous operation involving a massive mobilization of capital and labor. It led to the reclamation of thousands of hectares of kayal lands. Today these kayal lands are the very backbone of rice cultivation in the whole of Kerala.

In gratitude the Kuttanad farmers have named several reclaimed lands after the members of Travancore royal family. Currently, there is a huge crop diversification process under way in some of the newly reclaimed kayal lands. These lands, when protected by strong granite bunds have been found to be ideally suited for a variety of cash crops such as coconuts, bananas, pepper and cocoa and tapioca. Since the 1960s, cash crops have been gaining ground in the kayal lands. In more recent times farmers have even turned to the cultivation of vanilla crop.