BACKYARD SWINE REARING PRACTICES AMONG NICOBARI TRIBES OF ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS

摘要

Swine is commonly reared as backyard unit by Nicobari tribes of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The present investigation was carried out to observe the pig rearing practices by Nicobari tribes. Nicobari tribes allowed the pigs for open range grazing with supplemental feeding prepared from locally available feed ingredients. The mean herd size, age at slaughter and slaughter weight were 11.7 +- 4.2 in number, 9.2 ± 3.3 m and 58.3 +- 21.4 kg respectively. The pigs shared night shelter below the human dwelling. A high dressing percent (75-80) was obtained. The resource utilization from locally available materials by Nicobari tribes was found to be maximum. Age of sow at first farrowing, litter size at weaning and age at first mating by gilt were 11.7 +- 2.1 m, 6.1 +- 2.1 in number and 6.3 +- 3.9 m respectively.