This high altitude district is characterised by the cultivation of perennial plantation crops and spices. Coffee, tea, cocoa, pepper and lately, plantain, vanilla are the main cash crops. Besides cash crops, the most important crop in the district is rice. Dams and aqueducts have been constructed to take water to the otherwise dry areas in the district.

Coffee based farming system is a notable feature of Wayanad. Coffee is grown both as pure crop and as mixed crop along with pepper. Pepper is grown largely along with coffee in the north eastern parts of the district, especially in Pulpally and Mullankolly areas.

Coffee in Wayanad (66,999 ha.) shares 33.65 per cent of the total cropped area in the district and 78 per cent of the coffee area in the state. Other major crops are rubber(63,015 ha.), coconut(59,452 ha.), cardamom (38,348 ha.), tea (31,792 ha.) cassava and ginger. A recent increase in the area under coconut cultivation is noticed in the lower elevations. Paddy is cultivated in 22,772 hectares of land.

The rice fields of Wayanad are in the valleys formed by hillocks and in majority of paddy lands, only a single crop is harvested. Ginger cultivation in Wayanad has also substantially increased in recent times and the ginger produced is mainly marketed in the form of green ginger. Homestead farming assumes importance in this district. The average size of holdings are 0.68 ha. A variety of crops including annuals and perennials are grown in these small holdings.

The crops include coconut, arecanut, pepper, vegetables, tuber crops, drumstick, papaya, etc. and fruit trees like mango and jack. The crop patterns/crop combinations prevelant in this district are not based on any scientific norms. Therefore scientific cropping patterns suitable for the agro-ecological situation is to be recommended.