Vol. 11, Special Issue 10 (2022)

The participatory action research approach coupled with cross-sectional survey and focused group discussion was adopted and identified, mortality of ram lambs during the initial period of fattening, the incidence of diseases, inadequate scientific knowledge in sheep management, lack of proper training and information on ram lamb fattening, lack of knowledge on the selection of lambs, and unorganized markets as the prioritized constraints in ram lamb fattening entrepreneurship in rural areas of south interior Karnataka. To address these prioritized constraints an extension education intervention coupled with strategic health care management intervention was designed and implemented in selected ram lamb fattening enterprises through participatory research methods. The evaluation of strategic health care intervention, indicated maximum benefits in intervention enterprises (89.17 per cent rams available for sale, mortality rate: 10.83 per cent, specific disease incidence level: 20.72 per cent) in comparison with non-intervention enterprises (67.50 per cent rams available for sale, mortality rate: 32.50 per cent, specific disease incidence level: 51.06 per cent). Cost-benefit analysis of ram lamb fattening revealed that the net returns per ram lamb per fattening period of 240 days was Rs 4,600/- and Rs 2,953/- in small and large enterprises respectively. The net return per lamb per day was worked out to Rs. 19.16 /- and Rs. 12.30/- with a cost-benefit ratio of 1: 1.42.and 1:1.25 in small and large ram lamb fattening enterprises. Small entrepreneurs have perceived improvement in their self-reliance, and income stability of their households to some extent. But on the contrary, many large entrepreneurs were ambiguous in their views about transformation to their socio-economic status from lamb fattening entrepreneurship in the study area.