GOAT REARING PRACTICES IN SOUTHERN KARNATAKA

Abstract: Goat is one of the important small ruminants which have been domesticated by man since time immemorial and has been a traditional occupation of marginal farmers and landless labourers. A study was undertaken in 215 randomly selected goat flocks of selected villages from the four agro-climatic zones viz., Eastern dry zone (EDZ), Central dry zone (CDZ), Southern dry zone (SDZ) and Southern transition zone (STZ) of Southern Karnataka in order to document the goat husbandry practices and socio-economic status of goat keepers. The flock size ranged from 27 to 40 which were not of any distinct breed. The average number of does, bucks and kids was 17.48 ± 12.77, 5.62±4.63 and 8.75±5.26, respectively, with the Does: Buck: Kids ratio being approximately 3: 1: 2. The landholdings of 1-2 acres and more than 2 acres were with 46.05 per cent and 37.21 per cent of the goat rearers respectively, while the remaining (16.74 per cent) goat rearers were landless labourers. The goats were sheltered only during night in houses that were of kutcha type sheds constructed of locally available material (65%) with mud flooring or in pucca type sheds (35%) with half wall to the level of 2-3 ft on the sides with cement/concrete / stone paved for flooring. Dry fodder (Paddy/Ragi/Maize straw) was fed by only 18.26 per cent of the rearers while majority (81.74%) of them were dependent on naturally available trees fodders to meet the roughage demand of the goats. All the farmers were aware of the essentiality of vaccination and deworming for which they depended on Goverenment Veterinary dispensaries. This study conducted for the first time in the study area gives an idea of the status of goat rearers which would help the policy makers and researchers to plan future goat improvement programmes