A STUDY ON SHEEP PRODUCTION PRACTICES IN GUNTUR DISTRICT OF ANDHRA PRADESH
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Date
2011
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SRI VENKATESWARA VETERINARY UNIVERSITY TIRUPATI - 517 502. (A.P.) INDIA
Abstract
ABSTRACT :
A study was undertaken to study various sheep production practices followed by the shepherds and to record the physical parameters of sheep in Guntur district. A total of 240 farmers selected at random from three divisions of the district were interviewed by a questionnaire schedule and required information was collected. Out of the total farmers studied, 92.5% were illiterates and 7.5% were literates. Among all the shepherds, 44.58% belonged to BC community, 20% to SC community, 15% to ST community and 20.42% to other communities. It was further recorded that out of the total farmers studied, 52.5 % were landless, 37.92 % were marginal, 7.08 % were small and 2.50 % were large farmers.
It was observed that all the farmers in the area were rearing sheep extensively, 95% of the farmers studied were providing housing to their sheep and out of which 60.70% of the shepherds housed their sheep nearer to their houses. 91.70% of the farmers grazed their animals for duration of 8-10 h, while the grazing distance ranged from 2-4 km (67.90 %) to 4-6 km (32.10%). Flock mating commonly followed and flushing was not at all practiced by the shepherds. June – August and January – March were found to be the breeding seasons for the sheep in the area. From the study it was observed that the marketing of meat was done mainly through middlemen (87.08%). The average body length observed in different age groups of male sheep were 45.69 ± 0.66, 67.13 ± 0.90, 74.04 ± 0.39, 76.54 ± 0.54, 77.32 ± 0.49 and 78.23 ± 0.47 cm for 0-3 month, 4-12 month, 2 teeth, 4 teeth, 6 teeth and full mouth animals, respectively while the corresponding values for female sheep were 44.14 ± 0.80, 62.75 ± 0.60, 70.03 ± 0.37, 70.78 ± 0.41, 71.19 ± 0.36 and 70.29 ± 0.42 cm, respectively.
The mean body height of male sheep in different age groups were 50.71 ± 0.79, 69.14 ± 0.85, 77.15 ± 0.43, 81.09 ± 0.54, 83.47 ± 0.43 and 82.80 ± 0.43 cm for 0-3 month, 4-12 month, 2 teeth, 4 teeth, 6 teeth and full mouth animals, respectively while the corresponding values for female sheep were 49.49 ± 1.13, 65.24 ± 0.59, 73.42 ± 0.31, 75.48 ± 0.38, 76.55 ± 0.44 and 77.97 ± 0.37 cm, respectively. It was further observed that the mean body girth measurements of male sheep in Guntur district were 52.01 ± 1.01, 70.86 ± 0.92, 81.60 ± 0.46, 85.64 ± 0.64, 89.97 ± 0.52 and 88.84 ± 0.60 cm for 0-3 month, 4-12 month, 2 teeth, 4 teeth, 6 teeth and full mouth animals, respectively while the corresponding values for females were 48.82 ± 1.05, 67.28 ± 0.62, 77.02 ± 0.31, 79.36 ± 0.36, 81.86 ± 0.38 and 83.46 ± 0.63 cm, respectively. The study revealed that the mean body weights of male sheep in Guntur district were 11.05 ± 0.55, 22.13 ± 0.77, 34.96 ± 0.50, 38.57 ± 0.50, 43.14 ± 0.33 and 44.56 ± 0.76 kg for 0-3 month, 4-12 month, 2 teeth, 4 teeth, 6 teeth and full mouth animals, respectively whiles the corresponding values for females were 9.60 ± 0.64, 19.92 ± 0.55, 27.36 ± 0.22, 30.20 ± 0.39, 32.91 ± 0.28 and 34.37 ± 0.36 kg, respectively.
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