Goat Rearing

Goat provides milk, meat and hide. It is the main source of meat as about 35 per cent of the meat consumed in India is that of goat. In 1951, India had about 47 million goats which increased to 124 million in 2012. Bihar includingjharkhand has the largest number of goats followed by Rajasthan, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

Over 90 per cent of the goats are desi. The important breeds of goats are Angora or Ilimachali (known as Gaddi or Chamba breed of Himachal Pradesh andjammu and Kashmir). This breed provides soft Pashmina, (wool) meat and hide. The Jamunapari is found between Yamuna and Chambal Valley. In Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, the main breeds of goats are Marwari, Mehsanwi, Kathiawari, and Zalwadi. Recently, a number of foreign breeds like Alpine, Nubian, Saanen and Angora (Turkey) have been used for cross-breeding with the indigenous breeds so as to improve the quantity of milk and meat production.