Scientific Goat Management Practices for the Semi-Arid Tropics

Goats have proven to be useful through the ages due to their productivity, small size and because they don’t compete for food with humans. Popularly known as the poor man’s cow, goats hold tremendous potential for rural prosperity under changing agroclimatic conditions and depleting resources for crop-based livelihoods. In semi-arid India, goat husbandry is taken up by millions of smallholders who rear animals on crop residue and common property resources, providing them meat, milk, fiber, hide, etc, with virtually no capital, resource and training. In recent years, decreasing common property resources have driven farmers to take up intensive systems more seriously. Newer goat breeding, feeding, management and disease control technologies are now available. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt scientific goat farming in different agro-climatic zones, including the semi-arid tropics. Key to making goat farming more profitable and sustainable are increasing the production and efficiency of goat production through improved animal health, fertility, longevity and nutrition. These hold the most potential for enhancing nutrition security and thereby ensuring food security.