by Pudukkottai District, on the southeast and south by Ramanathapuram District, on the southwest by Virudhunagar District, and on the west by Madurai District, and on the northwest by Tiruchirappalli District. Piranmalai is the only hill area located in sivagangai district. Major river which passes through the Sivagangai district is Vaigai River. Politics |} Administration Sivaganga district has 9 taluks in 2 revenue division. Economy In 2006, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Sivaganga as one of the country's 250 most backward districts out of a total of 640. Consequently, it is one of the six districts in Tamil Nadu currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF). Industries The first bank in the district was the Bank of India in Periyakottai opened in 1985. Agriculture The vast majority of the workforce is dependent on agriculture (72.8%). In fact, the principal crop of Sivaganga district is paddy while majority of the district has red soil. The other crops that are grown are sugarcane, groundnut, pulses, cereal such as millet, chillies, cotton, and as well as gingelly. In response, the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University had set up the state's first Red Soil Dryland Research Centre in Sivaganga district. As of December 2010, the Spices Board is also setting up a new spices park at Sivaganga on an invest of Rs. 180 million. This park is expected to be operational by March 2011. It would be immensely helpful to farmers of chili, turmeric, medicinal plants and tamarind, as the focus would be to export their products. The proposed spices park would establish machinery for cleaning, sorting, grading, packaging, storing, and sterilizing among others. The focus would be to encourage the farmers to plant chili, a leading crop in Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga and nearby districts, as well as turmeric crops. Medicinal plants, being raised in and around the Madurai district, would also get a boost, as it was planned to patronize farmers of medicinal plants. One of the famous indigenous cow breeds, the Pulikulam cow, has originated from Pulikulam village of Sivagangai district. The Government of Tamil Nadu has also setup a cattle research centre exclusively for these pulikulam cattle breeds for their breeding as well as for the development of that cattle breeds. Bulls of these breeds are mainly used for Jallikattu. Pulikulam cattle research station has been setup near Manamadurai for research purpose. Agro and Mineral Based industries There