aDepartment of Agriculture Economics, ASPEE College of Horticulture & Forestry, Navsari Agriculture University, Navsari-396 450, Gujarat
bICAR-Indian Institute of Soybean Research, Indore-452 001, Madhya Pradesh
cICAR-Central Goat Research Institute, Mathura-281 122, Uttar Pradesh
dDirectorate of Research, Navsari Agriculture University, Navsari-396 450, Gujarat
Online published on 20 November, 2017.
The study has analysed profitability in goat farming and has looked into the measures that could enhance farmers’ income in south region of Gujarat. The study has covered 180 goat keepers in which 138 reared local breed of goats and 42 reared the surati breed. The data were collected through a well-structured pre-tested schedule by personal interview method during 2014–15 and 2015–16. The goat keepers were categorized into three herd sizes-small (1–5 goats), medium (6–15 goats) and large (>16 goats). The study has revealed that net income derived from different herd-size groups of goats was much higher among surati breed than local breed. The study has found that large herd-size group of goat keepers achieved higher profits than small and medium herd-size groups in both the breeds of goats. The annual income of surati breed of different herd-size groups was higher in comparison to local breed of goats. This shows that adoption of improved breed of goats had a positive impact on the income of goat keepers. Therefore, efforts should be made to educate farmers on adoption of improved breed of goats to increase income. Furthermore, policy makers, researchers and farmers should be made aware of the economic viability of goat farming in the country.
Goat farming, surati, goat keepers, farmers’ income, Gujarat
