Vol. 11, Special Issue 11 (2022)

Author(s):
Sanjay Kumar Bharti, Manoj Kumar Singh, Ramesh Kumar Singh, Jai Kishan Prasad and Raj Narayan Singh

Abstract:
Bihar is the 5^th largest goat population state in India, and it is about 7.68% of India's total goat population. In Bihar, 42.9% people below poverty line and hence there is an immense opportunity of goat husbandry to meet up the large gap between demand and supply of meat. About 574500 goats are slaughtered annually in recognized slaughterhouses donating 31.20% of total meat production of the state However, goat husbandry is not well accepted by all classes of people in Bihar. It is mostly confined to backward classes and landless farmer who are unable to rear large animals. As a result, goat farming has not been developed as an industry. Holding size is generally 1-3 goat per family depending on availability of surplus labor in the family. Village goat is mostly of Bengal breed. Male Bengal breed comes in puberty at the age of 8-9 months whereas the age of 1st kidding is on an average 14-15 months. Lactation length of this breed of goat at farmer's field has been recorded as 80-128 days and kidding interval at 250 days. Black Bengal goat breed is highly in-depth and twining percentage has been recorded. Goats are raised on grazing. Goat has also been playing a significant role in rain-fed farming system. Marketing of goat is under the hand of unorganized sector and middleman oriented. So, there is crucial need to develop strategy in respect of breed conservation, management, health care, credit, insurance and marketing system of goat in Bihar.