The Kerala Forest Research Institute at Peechi researches tropical forestry and holds the secretariat of the FAO-funded TEAKNET

Background

The Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) was established in 1975 and is located at Peechi in Thrissur district.
It became a constituent institution of the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) in 2002.
It is structured into 17 Research Departments grouped under nine Programme Divisions.
It is the Secretariat for the international network TEAKNET, funded by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations.
Its field surveys showed that over 75 per cent of the State's wood requirement is of non-forestry origin, disproving the notion that forests are the major source of wood.
With the Kerala Forest Department it set up the Kerala Forest Seed Centre, which supplies quality seeds of teak and other plantation species.