Socio-Economic analysis of trainees in national training programme on commercial goat farming

Data on home state, social group, age, education and occupational status were collected from the trainees (n = 1121) who participated in National Training Programme on commercial goat farming conducted by the Central Institute for Research on Goats, Makhdoom (UP) from 2006–07 to 2011–12. Analysis showed that number of trainees has increased from 62 to 266 per year between 2006–07 and 2011–12. State-wise participation of trainees indicated that trainees from 22 states participated in training programmes. Majority of the trainees participated from Northern (60.93%) followed by Central-western (19.63%) and Eastern (12.58%) states. The categorization of data as per social group indicating that commercial goat farming was not associated with any particular social group. Majority of the trainees (50.31%) were aged between 40 and 50 years, 44.42% were graduates and postgraduates and 6.96% were technically educated. Occupational status of trainees reflected that 54.33% of the trainees were engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry followed by business (20.16%) and service (14.63%). These trends indicated that the National Training Programme on commercial goat farming has gained importance across the country.