This region extends over the Malabar and Konkan coasts and the Sahyadris and is covered by laterite and coastal alluvials. This is a humid region with annual rainfall above 200 cm and average temperatures of 26°C-32°C in July and 19°C-28°C in January. Rice, coconut, oilseeds, sugarcane, millets, pulses and cotton are the main crops. The region is also famous for plantation crops and spices which are raised along the hill slopes of the Ghats.

The strategies include development of high value crops and fisheries, protection of land from salinity ingress and provision of drainage improve­ment. A programme to sink about 5 lakh dug wells and shallow wells should be undertaken on priority basis.

The approach of homestead system of re­claiming and using Khar lands be accepted, planned and implemented. Low productivity areas of paddy and millets under rained conditions should be di­verted to horticultural crops like mango, banana, coconut etc. to cover about 0.5 lakh ha. Appropriate infrastructure for fruit marketing and processing should be developed.

Increasing mechanised fishing boats for deep sea fishing, strengthening of cold storage, processing, and transport infrastructure in corporate/cooperative sector, and providing incen­tives for prawn culture in brackish water should be taken up.