Goat and Sheep Farming

Abstract

Small ruminants are spread all over the world and adapting well to varied agro-ecological regions. Small ruminants are serving the mankind since the dawn of civilization dating to Neolithic Period [1]. It is believed that goat was the first domesticated livestock species to produce edible products for human beings [2]. Small ruminants have proved to be the life saviour for farmers in many catastrophic situations. Goats are particularly very useful and hardy animals and can be productive in the environmental conditions that do not support sheep and cattle rearing [3]. The distribution of goat and sheep varies between economically developed and developing countries. Sheep is almost equally distributed throughout the world. However, the population of goat is more in the low income countries (LRI) than in the high income countries (HRI) [4]. During the early part of the twentieth century, cattle or sheep farming was more popular than goat farming. Subsequently, cattle and sheep farming gained momentum, while goat farming was not popular and goat stock fell due to industrialization of agriculture. However, during the second part of the century, the trend reversed and the number of goats around the world increased substantially. The trend of sheep and goat population and production in countries, categorized as low income (LRI) countries, intermediate income (IRI) countries, and high income (HRI) countries indicated that 79.6% of goats were available in LRI, 19% in IRI, and 1% in HRI countries. The trend of sheep distribution showed that about 40% of sheep were in LRI, 34% in IRI, and 27% in HRI countries. Small ruminants have played a significant role for the livelihood security in smallholder system. Small ruminants have fulfilled agricultural, economic, cultural, and religious roles in all the parts of the world. Small ruminants are adaptable to harsh environment and are better choice of animals in arid and extreme humidity. Small ruminants are promising for subsistence production and contribute significantly to family nutrition. Small animals are easy to manage with minimum financial risk and faster return on investment. The space requirement for handling and feeding of small animal stock is less. More importantly, small animal rearing is economically viable in all types of production systems and is therefore a viable option for the smallholder to rear it and multiply for commercial use. Small ruminant rearing will enhance the farmer’s income and provide more employment to women as it is profitable and less vulnerable to shocks with respect to feed requirement and their management. Small ruminants play major role in poverty reduction by providing a better source of income and nutrition to the poor people in the world. They have the potential for delivering a sustainable increase in income and providing high quality and affordable livestock products.