Rural India: Pro Poor: Goat Rearing: Low Cost-High Benefits

India is an agricultural country where about 70% of the population lives in rural. Their main means of livelihood is Agriculture and Livestock farming. About a third of these families live below the poverty line. Most of them are marginal farmers & agricultural laborers. These families can’t keep expensive livestock like Cows and buffalo due to lack of resources. On the other hand, Goat rearing is proving to be a boon in improving the economic condition of these poor families due to low investment & high benefits.

The total number of goats in our country is about 148.88 million (as per the 20th Livestock Census), which is spread from the inaccessible mountainous areas to the most extreme conditions of the sea coasts. Out of the total goats in the world, about 20% of goats are reared in Rural India. There are 24 descript breeds of goats in our country and there are many more than nondescript breeds of goats found in India. Goats eat low-quality fodder and convert it into quality meat and milk which are available to us in the form of valuable items like Milk, Meat (Chevon) & Fiber.

At present humans use the land either to grow food for them self or to build a house for themselves or to set up a factory for earnings. The pasture/grazing land in the rural setting is nearing its end. In such circumstances, it is becoming impossible to rear large ruminants due to exorbitant expenditures. At the same time, a small ruminant like a goat is capable of giving us useful products by grazing on the side of the road, on banks of rivers, on agricultural land, and living in adverse conditions. In spite of having second place in the production of Goat Meat in the world as well as having such a large number, the share of products obtained from goats in India is very low in the Indian Economy. The main reason for this is the lack of commercialization of goat farming and improved management practices such as improved breeding, balanced diet & health management.

Therefore, in order to include goat farming in the mainstream and to improve this business, it is very important that the goat rearers should know/be aware of the economics of goat farming as well as the methods of Improved Rearing, Improved Breeding from high-quality Buck, proper nutrition and health management facilities should be developed. As these small goats can change their standard of living and ensure livelihood.