Socio-economic Status of Farmers and Common Management Practices in Goat Farming in Chittagong, Bangladesh

Abstract

The present study was conducted to determine the socio-economic profiles of the household goat farmers and to investigate the management practices of goat farming and to identify the problems of goat farming in seven thanas of Chittagong district by using a pre-tested questionnaire. Socio-economic profile of the goat farmers like age, education, occupation, farm size, training received, annual income and management practices particularly housing, feeding, breeding, cleaning, vaccination program, veterinary services followed by the farmers were investigated during the research. A total of 72 goat farms were selected randomly for this study. The results reveal that most of the farmers were housewife (27.78%) having highest primary level (Class 5-8) of education (34.72%). Family types of the farmers (84.72%) were single family and majority of the farmer (48.61%) were landless (0-100 percentile). About 95.83% farmers had no training on farming. Highest proportion of the goat houses were made of bamboo having highest wooden floor (62.50%). The data obtained illustrated that majority of the farmers (45.83%) used grass and bran feed to their goats. About 68.06% of the farmers reared cross breed goats in their farms in semi-intensive system (47.22). Most of the farmers (73.61%) cleaned their farm houses regularly. The highest proportion of the farmers (68.05%) followed deworming strictly but only 20.83% farmer followed the vaccination schedule. About 59.72% farmers consulted with veterinary doctor. Nearly 45.83% farmers had low level of knowledge about goat farming. In the study we estimated per animal annual Cost Benefit Ratio (CBR) which is 2.4. In the present study few problems were identified out of which high price of concentrate feed and break out of diseases made ranked as most serious problems. If the problems are addressed properly, the goat raising could be more profitable business in Bangladesh.