Trends of goat meat production in India: An Analysis Based on Data from Different Livestock Censes

Goat rearing requires low initial investment and fewer inputs but provides better economic prospects. In India, the total number of goat population marginally increased from 140.54 million as per the 18th livestock census (2007) to 148.88 million in the 20th livestock census (2019). However, the total goat meat production in India has almost doubled from 4.0 million tonnes to 8.6 million tonnes during the same period. The present study made an effort to examine the trend of goat meat production in India. The reasons behind such anomaly by making an in-depth study of secondary information available through various animal census rounds and other sources. The study found that the increase in goat meat production is primarily because of the commercialisation of the sector, breed development and better management practices