The Khadi and village industry (K. V. I.

) sector products a wide range of exclusive products, which are having distinct characteristics. These products are as under.

KHADI
Handspun and hand woven khadi is very comfortable to wear compared to the artificially made synthetic fibers like Nylon, Rayon and Terylen etc. The products are cotton, woolen, silk and polyvastra khadi. Cotton khadi is 100% of cotton, which was a great demand abroad, and it is available in different shades and colours. Attractive readymade garments are being designed in the form of Kurta paijama, shirt, ghagra, choli, salvar kammis and other attractive garments.

TYPES OF KHADI
(i) Cotton Khadi It is one of the types of Khadi, which include 100% of cotton. Dhothies. Lungies, towels, shawls etc are included in this category. (ii)Silk Khadi Silk khadi comes in various categories like tussar, matka etc.Silk khadi can be converted into shirting, into attractive saris with sari boarder or printed sari such as balucuchari saris, which has rich embroidery or Kanjeepuram with its intricate designs woven in silver or golden. (iii) Woolen Khadi Woolen khadi items consisting of sweaters, mufflers, blankets and socks. (iv) Polyvastra khadi Polyvastra hadi consisting of shirting and suiting in attractive shades and designs including dress materials and saris. (v)Muslin Khadi This type of khadi is very thin, which comes under 90s, 150s and 100s.

b) FIBER
Fiber utility items are made out of sisal banana, pineapple, palm and other fibers. Some of the products include bags, table mats, wall hanging, carpets, floor mats, floor plot, holdersets. Palm fiber products like fancy bags, baskets, mats etc. are in great demand.

c) LEATHER
Leather products range include footwear, like Kolapury chappals, sandals, shoes, purses, brief case, jewels bags, attractive readymade garments etc.

d) CANE AND BAMBOO

Fancy utility articles by using cane and bamboo as raw materials are produced in the north eastern parts of country. The items like furniture, sofa sets, partition wall, mats, handy crafts items etc. can be supplied in bulk quantity.

e) AGARBATTI
Incense sticks with fragrance are available in different a verity, which has good demand in India and abroad. Women workers make incense sticks. In foreign country, agarbatti is used as incense in place of artificial air purifier.

f) PROCESSED FRUIT PRODUCTS

This is one of the activities taken up by the institutions and co-operative societies and financed by the commission. Products like mango pulp, juices, chatni etc are exported in large quantity. The products are covered by FPO (Food Product Organization) license.

g) HANDMADE PAPER
This is a beautiful product which was the cloth rags and waste paper as raw material for production, thus contributing in saving the trees and hence preservation of ecology. The strengths of handmade paper are as follows; Long product life (100 years or more) Uniqueness in texture Eco friendly, does not use wood pulp as raw materials and hence save trees. Convert waste into wealth, through recycling nature.

Handmade paper product range from stationary items like files, letter pads, envelops, fancy bags, visiting cards, greeting cards, watermark, certificate and decoration materials, photo album etc. There is a market for this product in particular.

h) HONEY
Honey is natural syrup collected y honey bees. There are two types of honey produced. One by the bees produced in forest and another apiary honey produced by installing colonies of bees and maintaining this in systematic manner. Honey is also used as cough syrup, blood purifier and as a general tonic. The honey in India is costlier than in the International market. However, this can be overcome by minimizing wastage and increasing the productivity.

i) POTTERY AND STONE WEAR ITEMS

Clay articles produced in rural areas by potters known a prajapaties are in great demand in the country as well as abroad. In market, fancy pottery items and terra cotta are in great demand.

j) PAPAD AND MASALAA

Papad and Masala are in great demand in India and abroad. Mahila Hriha Udyog Lijjat Papad of Khadi and Village Industry, exports papd and masala to UK, USA, Gulf Countries and Newsland.

k) HERBAL PRODUCTS
K. V. I. produce a number of herbal products like herbal shampoo, tooth powder, health tonic like Chyavana prash and Churnas.

PRODUCTION UNITS
The main production units are situated at Avinissery, Choorakkatukara, Erumapetty, Kadavallur, Kodakara, Mayannur, Thrikkur, Peringottukara and Thrissur.