Present Status and Proposed Breeding Strategies for Goat Production in India

摘要

Goats play multiple roles in the support of mankind and this has happened over the last 7000 years vi%., production of milk, meat, cashmere/pashmina, mohair and skin. Goat, "The poor man's cow" fits in amicably to achieve the inter-dependent objectives of poverty alleviation, availability of food, creation of employment and contribution to rural income. Goat contributes more than 52 per cent of household's total income towards assuring food and nutrition security of families of goat keepers (Kumar et al, 2003). Majority of small and marginal farmers and landless laborers derive their livelihood from goats. Women are the most benefitted from goat rearing, being the major custodian in rural area, especially in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Rajasthan, NEH region, more specifically in tribal regions of the country because they can be maintained on a limited land and can be sustained on a wide variety of vegetation in varied agro-climatic conditions. Goats are easy to manage and their small size makes them suitable for slaughter at home especially on occasion like Eid by Muslim and for offering to Goddess Kali and on Shivratri by Kashmiri Pandits.