COMMERCIAL GOAT FARMING: A GAME CHANGER IN RURAL INDIA ECONOMY

August 24, 2020

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COMMERCIAL GOAT FARMING: A GAME CHANGER IN RURAL INDIA ECONOMY

Goat rearing on commercial basis is going to a game changer in the India livestock farming post COVID19. As the economy of India has been severely affected due to this COVID19 Pandemic resulting a complete economic deadlock . Crores of person has lost their jobs due to this even crores of laboures has lost their job and returned bsck to their home from urban India and searching for means of their livelihood at their homeland.For thrm this Goat rearing will sure to become a means of livelihood .State Govt.& Central Govt. must come with such schemes related to commercial goat farming which will not only solve the problem of unemployment but also improve the socioeconomic status of poor people.

Goat popularly known as poor man’s cow is widely distributed and clearly associated with poor people, their economic contribution is extremely important for the security and livelihood of these people throughout the developing countries. This contribution is varied, and the importance is reflected in terms of revenue generation, cash security and enhanced qualitative human nutrition.

Goats are among the main meat-producing animals in India, whose meat (chevon) is one of the choicest meats and has huge domestic demand. Besides meat, goats provide other products like milk, skin, fiber and manure. Goats are important part of rural economy, particularly in the arid, semi-arid and mountainous regions of the country. With more than 145 million populations, provide food and nutritional security to the millions of marginal and small farmers and agricultural laborers. However, the productivity of goats under the prevailing traditional production system is very low.

It is because they are maintained under the extensive system on natural vegetation on degraded common grazing lands and tree lopping. Even these degraded grazing resources are shrinking continuously. Moreover, adoption of improved production technologies/ management practices in the farmers’ flock is very low. Therefore, rearing of goats under intensive and semi-intensive system using improved technologies for commercial production has become imperative not only for realizing their full potential but also to meet the increasing demand of chevon (goat meat) in the domestic as well as international markets. More than 70 per cent of the total meat production comes from poultry, cattle, buffalo etc. and for that preference is limited due to socio-religious factors. Therefore, burden lies on goat and sheep meats. Rising per capita income, Growing urbanization and unfolding globalization are boosting the demand for high-value commodities including meat. Due to these fast socio-economic changes in the recent past, a rapid shift has taken place in the dietary habits in favour of non-vegetarian diet. As a result, the demand for goat and sheep meats has swiftly increased and the domestic market price for chevon/mutton has risen from Rs 60 per kg to Rs 500-600 per kg over a decade.

Moreover, huge expected increase in the demand for meat in developing countries (by 100%), especially in the East and South-East Asia in the next 20 years presents an excellent opportunity for enhancing export of live goat/sheep and their meat from India. Responding to the market signals, the goat production system in India has been slowly moving from extensive to intensive system of management for commercial production. However, in the absence of any systematic study; there have been questions from the entrepreneurs, progressive farmers and even researchers on the economic viability and sustainability of commercial goat farming under intensive system.

India has enormous potential in this sector. Goat is highly integrated in rural economy but at the same time it is much neglected species among the livestock. It has good feed conversion efficiency and high prolificacy is the required trait from economic point of view. According to livestock census 2017 around 145 million goats are present in India. Every year 41% population slaughtered even than its population growth rate is 4-5%. Due to the negligence & unavailability of proper technology large percentage pregnant goats are also slaughtered. Thus one can imagine the growth potential of goat industry.

Advantages of goat farming
Advantages of goat farming / Utility of goats:——-

1. The goat is a multi-purpose animal producing meat, milk, hide, fibre and manure. In hilly areas, goats are also used for hauling light loads.
2. Goats have very few demands of housing and management. They hardly need separate housing and happily share their homes with their owners or his other livestock.
3. Goats can be raised by landless agricultural labourers, ladies and children because they can thrive well on variety of leaves, shrubs, bushes, kitchen waste etc.
4. Goat farming can be a profitable occupation for a farmer and can fit well into mixed farming.
5. Goats are cheaper to maintain, easily available and have a friendly disposition.
6. Goats are capable of adapting to various agro-climatic conditions ranging from arid dry to cold arid to hot humid. They can be raised in plains, hilly tracts, sandy zones and at high altitudes.
7. Goats are more tolerant to hot climate than other farm animals.
8. Goats suffer from fewer ailments than other large animals.
9. Goats have got increased digestibility of crude fibre and can produce even on poor quality roughages.
10. Goats give more production per unit of investment.
11. Goats are smaller in size and have a younger slaughter age.
12. Goat meat has no religious taboo and is relished by all sections of society.
13. Goat meat has less fat and is more in demand.
14. Goats are called the foster mother of man, as their milk is considered better for human nutrition than other species of livestock.
15. Goat milk is cheap, wholesome, easily digestible and nutritious.
16. Goat milk is finer than cow milk i.e. the fats and proteins are present in a finer state and are more easily digestible, especially by children and invalids.
17. Goat milk has lesser allergic problems than other species of livestock.
18. Goat milk is used as a ayurvedic medicine for personas ailing with asthma, cough, diabetes etc..
19. Goat milk has higher buffering qualities and this enhances its value for patients suffering from peptic ulcers, liver dysfunction, jaundice, biliary disorders and other digestive problems.
20. Goat milk has higher phosphate content, which is beneficial for vegetarian communities.
21. Goat milk has a higher content of B-complex vitamins.
22. Goat milk is suitable for preparing various milk products.
23. Goats can be milked as often as required, preventing milk storage problems and refrigeration costs.
24. Goat hide is used for the manufacture of leather products.
25. Goat hairs are used for the manufacture of rugs and ropes.
26. Pashmina shawls, Mohair and Kashmere carpets are in great demand and are sold at very high prices.
27. Goat manure is 2.5 times richer in nitrogen and phosphoric acid than cow manure.
28. Goats form an excellent animal for physiological and biomedical research.

Poor man’s cow : ——-

Goat has been described as a poor man’s cow (or mini-cow) because of its immense contribution to the poor man’s economy. They not only supply nutritious and easily digestible milk to their children but also regular source of additional income for poor and landless or marginal farmers. Being small-sized animals, goats can easily be managed by women and children. Feeding, milking and care of goats does not require much equipment and hard work. Capital investment and feeding costs are also quite low. Four goats can be maintained as cheaply as one indigenous cow. Goats can be successfully reared in areas where fodder resources are limited and milch cattle do not thrive. Returns on capital of up to 50% and recovery of 70% of retail price are possible in goat farming. In rural areas, goat farming plays a vital role in providing gainful employment

Broiler goat rearing a profitable enterprise

Broiler goat production is highly suitable technology in areas where green fodder is not available (or) due to lack of grazing land. It is one of the techniques to improve the economy of rural farming community. Broiler goat rearing has been found to be highly remunerative compare to rearing other farm animals and it has been advocated as a better substitute of livelihood for the rural farmer.

What are broiler goat kids?

As far as broiler goat raring is concerned, we don’t have any specific breed for this purpose. The kids produced from goats (whatever breed available in your area) can be used for broiler goat rearing (both male as well as female kids).

Housing
Low cost housing should be constructed in such a way in a raised platform (about 1 meter height from ground level) by using bamboo/wooden poles or ‘pakka’ building by establishing concrete pillars. Floor and side walls may be made of wooden material. Roof may be thatched with coconut leaves, grass or asbestos sheets. . Average floor space per kid is 0.75 to 1 sq. metre. Floor should have atleast 1 cm space between bamboos/wooden planks to allow passage of dung and urine down to the ground.

Selection of kids

The goat kids about 15 days to 1 month old i.e before starting to eat green leaves and are having higher birth weight and not used for further breeding can be selected for broiler goat rearing.The selected kids will not be allowed to feed on green fodder/grazing green grasses in open spaces.

Method of rearing

The selected kids are reared intensively by providing concentrate feed (goat feed) @ 5 g mixed with equal quantity of rice gruel ( broken boiled rice) initially i.e. at start (15-30 days). Then gradually increase the amount day by day as per feed intake (eg. 7g, 10 g, 15 g like that). Apart from these you can add, coconut cake, rice bran or ground cake with minimum level (1-2 g/day/kid to maximum of 150-200/day) Pure water also should be available at all times (24 hours).
Liver tonic (Tefroli/Livol etc.) and Fish oil should be given twice in a week @ 2.5 ml/animal per day initially and increase upto 5-10ml/kid/day. The young kids should be allowed for mother’s milk twice or thrice in a day.

Goat feed:

Available in the market or you can also prepare own feed mix by using following feed ingredients.
Ingredients Parts

Deoiled ground nut cake 12
Horse gram 30
Wheat/maize/jowar (grain) 30
Rice polish/wheat bran 15
Dried unsalted fish 10
Mineral mixture 1.5
Common salt 1.5
VitAB2D3 25 gms/100 kg of feed mixture

Marketing

In India goat meat is preferred by all. So marketing of broiler goat is not a major problem. Direct marketing is highly profitable. Involvement of middleman can reduce the price of animals. Broiler goat meat is soft and minimize goaty odour. Marketing should be done at the attainment of 25-30 kg or at the age of 13-14 months whichever is earlier.

Breeding of parent stock

Parent stock should be allowed for mating by using good quality male (superior breed) or by using frozen semen at about 45 days postpartum (after delivery). Thereby the farmers can get continuous supply of goat kids for broiler goat production. Furthermore, the female goats produce more number of kids in their life time. Repeated mating by using same male should be avoided.

Synchronization of estrus

In a large herd, synchronization of estrus by using PGF2 alpha injection and timely breeding by using good quality frozen semen or natural service by superior male will enhance not only conception rate but also the farmer can bring all the animals to deliver (kidding) at a specified period.

Advantages

1. No need to observe oestrus signs.
2. Fixed time breeding at 72 hrs and 96 hrs following PGF2 alpha injection.
3. Delivery of all mated or inseminated animals at a particular time.
4. Highly useful for broiler goat rearing
5. Management is easy.
6. Reduced inter-kidding interval (in between the deliveries)

Constraints in Commercial Goat Farming-——–

Though commercial goat farming under intensive and semi-intensive systems of management has been picking up for the past couple of years, only less than one per cent of goat population in the country has come under such production system. There has been no organized effort to develop this sector and hence hardly any support system and the required infrastructure are available for encouraging the commercial goat farming in the country. There have been some efforts only by individual entrepreneurs to develop this enterprise besides R&D efforts of Central Institute for Research on Goats and a few NGOs. Of late, some state governments have started making efforts towards promoting goat rearing. In this backdrop, the commercial goat farmers do face a number of constraints, particularly during the initial phases of the goat-farming project.
• In the absence of proper standards and specially-designed vehicles for transporting the live goats, the officials in collision with police harass the farmers under the pretence of welfare of the animals during transportation of the breeding stock from long distances.
• High mortality in goats due to PPR, diarrhoea, pneumonia, tetanus, etc. in the beginning of the project, is a major concern of the farmers. It resulted even in closure of a number of farms in the beginning. High mortality in goats in the initial phase is mainly due to lack of knowledge about package of practices of improved goat farming, poor prophylaxis, non-availability of vaccines, etc., poor preparedness of the farmers, lack of personal attention of the entrepreneurs and poor access to veterinary doctor with experience of small ruminants. High mortality and poor growth in kids is a major constraints for 30 per cent farmers .
• Due to lack of knowledge, 70 per cent farmer has difficulty in identifying pure breed animals. Difficulty in getting good quality breeding animals is a major constraint. The best animals (particularly males) from the traditional flocks are sold for slaughtering to traders/ butchers. That resulted in scarcity of good quality breeding animals. The absence of organized efforts for breed improvement of goats has been compounding this problem. Since large goat flocks of different breeds under commercial production are only few, the entrepreneurs had to select the breeding animals from the available traditional flocks mostly through middlemen. Therefore it takes a long time to establish a good flock.
• Non-availability of vaccines, especially PPR, is another major constraint. Even the ET vaccine, which is being produced for decades, is not available in time in many states, including Jharkhand, U.P., Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Bihar. Non-availability of veterinary doctor 24*7. The low cost complete feed is not available. All the commercial farmers require identification tags for their goats, however they do not have access to a cost effective tagging material.
• Another major constraint is realization of low prices for the surplus live goats. The trade of live goats, which is unorganized and is in the hands of a large number of middlemen, traders and butchers, does not favour goat farmers. The live goats are sold not on the basis of their body weight in the livestock markets; this resulted in under-estimation of the value of live animals. Before building the reputation as a producer of quality breeding goats, the farmers get very low price for their animals. However, with the increased awareness and linkages, the commercial farmers have started insisting on deciding the price of their live goats on body weight basis. Poor access to good quality breeding animals and veterinary services are more severe constraints.
• The availability of institutional credit is relatively easy for large goat farming projects, but is a major constraint for the small entrepreneurs with projects of 50-100 goats and has limited capital for collateral security.
• Goat rearing, which was the economic activity of rural resource-poor people has attracted large and progressive farmers, businessman and industrialists due to its economic viability under intensive as well as semi-intensive systems of management for commercial production. The entry of resource-rich people, including poultry farmers, who have better access to technical knowledge, resources and markets, into this activity would help in realizing the potential of this enterprise. It would also encourage the aspirant commercial goat farmers who do not have access to grazing resources.
• The lack of good quality breeding stock being a major constraint in commercialization of goat production, the farms managed on scientific lines should be encouraged to become the centres of production of superior quality breeding animals.
• Considering good economic potential in commercial goat production, some large industrial houses such as Hind Agro Industries (a major meat exporter of the country) are entering into goat farming business, especially for the export market. The big poultry farmers from Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have also successfully started diversifying their business towards commercial goat farming. However, for availing the benefits of lucrative export market, food safety standards will have to be developed.
The commercial goat farmers can earn best profit by producing and marketing pure breed goats and festive sale during Eid. In the longrun, vertical and horizontal integrations would have to be evolved for achieving sustainability of commercial goat production and remaining competitive in the global market. Service centres will have to be established to provide technical knowledge, recommended inputs and market information. Small size modern slaughterhouses need to be established near the production centres (possibly in each development block) to maintain commercialization of goat production. The private sector may be encouraged to create such infrastructures through appropriate policy support and incentives. This would enable the farmers to enhance their productivity and reduce cost of their production. The goat farming is the enterprises which has potential to double the livestock agriculture farmers income before 2024, so Union govt as well as states govt should come up with schemes related to goat farming in the coming budget 2021 for coping the slow down of rural economy & providing the employment of crores of imgrant labourers who lost their job due to Pandemic COVID19.