Knowledge and adoption of farmers about recommended goat rearing practices
Abstract
Goat farming is an important occupation for landless, small and marginal farmers of west-southern part of
Haryana. A study was conducted in three districts of Haryana namely, Mahendragarh, Bhiwani and Sirsa which
were selected on the basis of highest concentration of goat population in the state to investigate knowledge level,
extent of adoption, constraints affecting adoption of recommended goat rearing practices and to establish
relationship between dependent and independent variables. 120 goat farmers were selected from 12 villages of
these three districts using multiple-stage random sampling. The data were collected from goat farmers by using
structured, pretesting interview schedule by holding interview with the farmers at their house/ farms during 2015-
16. The study revealed that a majority of farmers were having middle age group(31-50 yrs), mostly illiterate,
majority hailed from SC/ST caste, nuclear family, having > 0.50 Lakh annual income, landless(79%), having < 10
yrs goat farming experience, mostly not attended any training, had medium level of mass media exposure,
economic motivation, scienticism and medium level of change proneness. The study further revealed that a
majority of farmers had medium level of knowledge about all aspects of goat farming. They had maximum
knowledge about gestation period of goat, types of floor, colostrums feeding to newly born kid, provision of
sanitary condition , deworming and age of selling of kid whereas the goat farmers were ignorant about mating
methods, direction of shed, mineral mixture and vitamin supplements, age of castration and keeping of horned
bucks at farms. Majority of the respondents had medium level of adoption in breeding, feeding, management,
health care and marketing practices. Maximum adoption was noticed about selection and purchase of quality
animals, identification of animal in heat, feeding of green and dry fodder, grazing of animals, practice of semi
intensive system of grazing, deworming of animals, provision of protection of animals against heat, cold, rain etc.
feeding of animals, culling, flushing and marketing of buck. However, very few of them (almost none of the goat
farmers) adopted recommended practices namely mating time, upgrading of animals, mineral mixture licks blocks
to animals, feeding of colostrums of other does, feeding of milks to kids about 10 % of its body weight, feeding of
green and dry fodder to buck, vaccinations against E.T and PPR, resting period to parturated animals and trimming
practices. Majority of the farmers perceived most serious to serious level of constraints about feeding (80%)
followed by marketing (76.6%), breeding (70%) health care (60.8%) and housing (47.5%). Item wise constraints
analysis revealed that non availability of improved breeding buck, indiscriminate breeding, lack of own capital,
costly veterinary treatment, vaccination programme is not sponsored, non availability of green fodder, high cost of
feed and fodder, low market price of goat and lack of marketing infrastructure were the most serious nature of
constraints as perceived by the farmers which affect adversely the adoption of RGRP. Correlation analysis
indicated that educational qualification, annual income, economic motivation, veterinary facilities and change
proneness had positive and significant correlation with knowledge and adoption of recommended practices of goat.
Age of the farmers was positively and significantly correlated with various natures of constraints whereas
educational qualification, caste, family size, land holding, social participation, mass media exposure and veterinary
facility had negative and significant relationship with overall constraints perceived by goat farmers in adoption of
RGRP. The overall regression analysis indicate that annual income, training attended, social participation,
economic motivation and veterinary facilities played an important role to influence the knowledge level of goat
farmers. However, family type, flock size, credit facilities, scienticism and change proneness were emerge as an
important variables affecting positively the adoption of RGRP. In case of constraints analysis, age was found to
have positive and significant but family type and economic motivation had negative and significant b- value.