Socio-economic profile of goat farmers in Uttar Pradesh

Goats play a major role in livelihood and nutritional security of rural society in India. In the present study, a total of 240 goat farmers of 24 villages of two districts (Firozabad and Mainpuri) of Uttar Pradesh were interviewed. Respondents were categorized into landless (25.8%), marginal (54.2%) and small/semi-medium (20.0%) on the basis of land holding. It was found that majority of the respondents belonged to middle age group (66.2%), illiterate (44.6%) with medium level of experience in goat farming (68.8%) and medium family education status (73.7%). Education level of goat farmers was significantly associated (PO.01) with land holding category of goat farmers, whereas no association was observed with age and experience of the respondents. Majority of the respondents belonged to joint family (52.9%) and Hindu religion (93.3%) followed by other backward class (48.7%). Family type, caste and family education status were significantly associated (P<0.05) with landholding categories of goat farmers. Agriculture and animal husbandry were the primary occupations of the respondents and majority of them had smaller flock size. The contribution of goats to household income was higher in landless goat owners as compared to the other categories. Thus, goats can be used as tool for alleviating poverty and source of livelihood in rural areas.