Impact of training program on knowledge and awareness levels of goat farmers in Kandi area of district Hoshiarpur in Punjab

In recent years, a growing number of goat farmers in the villages of Kandi area have turned to goat rearing as a means of generating income. However, many of these farmers lacked scientific knowledge about proper goat husbandry practices, leading to lower return on investment. To address this issue, training sessions were organized for the farmers with the aim of enhancing their understanding and awareness of goat rearing practices and thereby increasing their income. Aquestionnaire was prepared on four different aspects viz., feeding, general management, disease prevention and control and reproductive management aspects and the farmers were assessed both prior and post training to check the increase in knowledge levels of goat farmers. Prior to the training, it was observed that farmers had limited knowledge regarding feeding (39%), general management (47 %), disease prevention and control (46 %) and reproductive management (86 %). However, following training sessions, a significant improvement was observed by around 49, 48 51 and 11 % in the farmers understanding on these critical goat rearing aspects for feeding, general management, disease prevention and control and reproductive management respectively. From this study, it can be concluded that, scientific knowledge and awareness regarding the various aspects of goat farming is very important for the farmers for better return on investment.