Contribution of small ruminants to sustainable livelihood of villagers in Koraput district of Orissa

A study was conducted in eight villages belonging to two agroclimatic zones of Koraput district of Orissa involving 307 households to assess the status of sheep and goat and their contribution to the livelihood of the marginalized section of the society. The landless, marginal and small farmers together constituted 89% of the surveyed households. Livestock sector contributed to 9.59% of the total family income in the district. Sheep and goats constituted the major source of income (69.87%) from livestock sector. It was found that 66.67 to 79.41% of the households possessed either sheep or goat; whereas 20.59 to 33.57% did not possess any sheep or goat. The possession of sheep and goat was significantly and positively correlated with the size of the land holding (r=0.3). In the Eastern Ghat highland zone (EGHZ), more households (37.43%) possessed goats as compared to sheep (28.07%) while in the South Eastern Ghat Zone (SEGZ), more families possessed sheep (61.11%) than goats (34.92%). It was observed that 71.5% of the flocks were constituted of 1 to 5 animals. The animals are generally taken for grazing by the village herd man. The male kids and lambs after weaning were taken for grazing separately by the owners. In EGHZ, the distance of grazing as well as the duration of grazing was less in comparison to SEGZ. Supplemental feeding was only given to the male kids and lambs to fetch better market price. Inbreeding was found to be a common problem in all the villages. It was observed that women's contribution to the day-to-day management of sheep and goats was more. The common disease symptoms as reported in order of prevalence were ectoparasite infestation (45.7%), diarrhoea (32.4%) lesions on the muzzle and around the mouth(16%) and diseases associated with secretion of saliva (15.9%). Very few people adopted the routine health care practice.