Goat Farming- A Profitable Venture
Dr. Mandeep Singla
Senior Scientist, Directorate of Livestock Farms
Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana
The goat species (Capra hircus aegarius) is an important component of farm animal genetic resources. Together with sheep, and partly because of their size, both are commonly called “small ruminants”. Goats have been associated with mankind since the dawn of agriculture and the domestication of animals. Goats were domesticated as early as 7000-8000 BC, as evidenced by archaeological remains collected in Asia. Since then, it has been involved in development of many aspects of human culture like religion, tradition, folklore, nutrition, livelihood and economics. It is particularly important in tropics and subtropics, where it is used as a major source of meat, milk, fiber, skin and manure in many traditional societies. There is also a tendency to keep goats as a stock of wealth (poor man‟s bank) and sell them proportionally when the demand for funds raises or their number rises.
Goats provide products and services which are important for humans throughout the world. In the developed countries, goats are valued mainly for milk, fiber and meat; while in the developing countries, they are valued mainly for meat, followed by milk, fiber and skin. The socioeconomic importance of goats is greatest in developing nations, where they fulfill socioeconomic, cultural and recreational needs. Their small size is especially relevant and relates directly to economic, managerial and biological advantage over other species. The small size of the goat contributes to its popularity. Goats in addition to meeting daily food needs (milk and meat), are easily sold as a source of cash, provide insurance and are valued in religious ceremonies like gifts during marriages. This species acts as silver lining in Indian subcontinent especially for poor and landless marginal farmers. Poor and landless farmers often increase the size of their flocks to achieve greater food and economic security.
Present status
Goats constitute about 28 percent of total livestock population and 14 percent of total meat production of country (BAHS, 2020). In year 2019-20, 103.6 million goats and 56.5 million sheep yielded 1.2 and 0.8 million tones (MT) of meat with average 11.5 kg and 14 kg yield per animal, respectively (BAHS, 2020). Additionally, goats produced 5.85 MT of milk (3% of national production) with average 0.44 liter per goat per day in same year. India is one among the largest exporters of sheep and goat meat to the world. Major export destinations of India are United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman. During 2015-16, India earned Rs. 446 crores through export of live goat/sheep and Rs. 871.08 crores through goat/sheep meat amounting 22,060.15 tones (excluding edible offal). The socio-economic contribution of small ruminants relates to large sizes of small ruminant populations; wide distribution across various agro-ecological zones and production systems; and diversity of breeds. Small ruminants are exchanged for crops in many pastoralist communities, and used for ceremonial purposes and for paying traditional doctors.
Societal contributions of goats
Livelihood concept is explained in terms of capabilities, assets (stores, resources, claims, and access), and activities that play interconnected roles in the wellbeing of households. The term coping is generally defined as an effort to prevent or diminish distress associated with threats, shocks, harm, or loss. In India, small land holders dependent mainly on crops are at greater risk of seasonal and climatic variations especially rainfall. Many parts face challenges of droughts and floods posing severe threats to livelihood of small landholders. The key part of resilience is the diversification of activities and use of different resources to increase household income as well as stability even when uncertainties prevail. The arid and semi-arid harsh conditions affect cattle more than goats and sheep. The ability of goats and sheep to graze, utilize poor quality forages, walk long distances, and withstand drought makes them better assets to sustain the livelihoods of pastoralists.
Goats are suited for diverse climatic conditions and play critical role in almost all the agro-climatic zones of India. Their contribution is more significant is eco-fragile, calamity prone and agriculturally less suited areas. About 70 per cent of the landless agricultural laborers, marginal and small farmers in the country are associated with goat husbandry. About 33 million households predominantly small land holders are engaged in rearing of goats (4.5 million in sheep farming) in India (19th livestock census, 2012). In pastoral societies in India, goats are kept as a source of additional income and as an insurance against income shocks of crop failure. They are not only an important source of income and employment for them, but also a vital source of animal protein for the family. A number of micro studies concluded that the goats have great social and economic relevance in poverty reduction and social equity.
Women empowerment through goats
In many poor economies, women often don‟t own assets in the household or have control or power over assets and their use, and yet these women are over-burdened by the plight of looking for food for the household. Gender equality contributes to economic growth; however, it is not as clear that economic growth contributes to gender equality. The household role distribution and asset ownership determine the extent to which these assets can be converted into income generating activities. Goats play a critical role in the livelihoods of rural households, where they are often the property of poor women and children. A case study of Ethiopia shows that goats distributed to women farmers brought about substantial changes in their lives by enhancing food security and diversifying the livelihoods. Thus, through women empowerment positive social changes in the society can be rapidly taken up.
Compatibility of goats for small land holders
Goat production as against large ruminant and non-ruminant production plays greater role in reducing poverty, ensuring food security and overall household wellbeing particularly in rural regions of resource poor countries. Goats can quickly multiply, are resilient and easily convertible to cash to meet financial needs of the rural producers. The rural poor who cannot afford to maintain a cow or a buffalo find goat as the best alternative source of supplementary income and milk. Goat rearing has distinct economic and managerial advantages over other livestock because of its less initial investment, low input requirement, higher prolificacy, shorter generation interval and ease in marketing. Goats are largely reared on extensive system using common resources, forest land and crop residues. Goats are well suited for mixed or integrated farming systems i.e. backbone for small landholders. Due to acceptability for wide variety of feed resources goats fits well with sylvipasture, agro-forestry etc. The adaptive capacities of goats to arid and semi-arid conditions make them one of the best assets for subsistence, food security, and livelihood for small holder farmers. They provide significant means through which landless, small land owners, pastoralists, and agro-pastoralists can escape the poverty trap as in times of emergency they can be used as moving bank. Goats contribute enormously towards promotion of livelihood security and as an insurance cover to cope with crop failures particularly for rural landless, small and marginal farmers.
Goats are more efficient in converting poor quality feed resources into quality meat compared to most of other farm animal species. In most of the Asian and rain-fed based economies, investment for other inputs is also less for goats than other farm animals. Due to smaller size goats are more suitable for transport, marketing and even domestic consumption thus have significant contribution in improvement of diet of economically weaker sections of the societies throughout the globe. Additional advantageous features of goats are higher feed use- efficiency from coarse roughages and high tolerance to tannins and diseases, as well as marketability within one season. Goat rearing can provide part time self-employment without affecting the main occupation for small and marginal farmers.
Conclusion
Small ruminants provide livelihood support to the poor underprivileged landless, and marginal farm households. The goat production systems are mainly subsistence-oriented but in view of the rising demand for meat, there is a great scope for their commercialization. Nonetheless, these animals have been grossly neglected in development programs and their potential for enhancing livestock growth remains untapped.
Since this is the only sector, which provides direct livelihood and income generating opportunities to landless and marginal farmers and the other vulnerable sections of the society, formulation of appropriate schemes for inclusive development of this sector is essential. The second component includes harnessing of the untapped potential in processing and value addition of chevon.
It can be thus concluded that goat farming in the state has a great potential to support the livelihood of small and marginal farmers.
