Dear sir,
Goat farming needs more no of labour for maintenance but highly profitable business money can be doubled in short span, maintenance Why do goat rearing?
Goat is a multi functional animal and plays a significant role in the economy and nutrition of landless, small and marginal farmers in the country. Goat rearing is an enterprise which has been practiced by a large section of population in rural areas. Goats can efficiently survive on available shrubs and trees in adverse harsh environment in low fertility lands where no other crop can be grown. In pastoral and agricultural subsistence societies in India, goats are kept as a source of additional income and as an insurance against disaster. Goats are also used in ceremonial feastings and for the payment of social dues. In addition to this, goat has religious and ritualistic importance in many societies. The advantages of goat rearing are :
i) The initial investment needed for Goat farming is low.
ii) Due to small body size and docile nature, housing requirements and managemental problems with goats are less.
iii) Goats are friendly animals and enjoy being with the people.
iv) Goats are prolific breeders and achieve sexual maturity at the age of 10-12 months gestation period in goats is short and at the age of 16-17 months it starts giving milk. Twinning is very common and triplets and quadruplets are rare.
v) In drought prone areas risk of goat farming is very much less as compared to other livestock species.
vi) Unlike large animals in commercial farm conditions both male and female goats have equal value.
vii) Goats are ideal for mixed species grazing. The animal can thrive well on wide variety of thorny bushes, weeds, crop residues, agricultural by-products unsuitable for human consumption.
viii) Under proper management, goats can improve and maintain grazing land and reduce bush encroachment (biological control) without causing harm to the environment.
ix) No religious taboo against goat slaughter and meat consumption prevalent in the country.
x) Slaughter and dressing operation and meat disposal can be carried without much environmental problems.
xi) The goat meat is more lean (low cholesterol) and relatively good for people who prefer low energy diet especially in summer and sometimes goat meat (chevon) is preferred over mutton because of its "chewability"
xii) Goat milk is easy to digest than cow milk because of small fat globules and is naturally homogenised. Goat milk is said to play a role in improving appetite and digestive efficiency. Goat milk is non allergic as compared to cow milk and it has anti-fungal and anti bacterial properties and can be used for treating urogenital diseases of fungal origin.
xiii) Goats are 2.5 times more economical than sheep on free range grazing under semi arid conditions.
xiv) Goat creates employment to the rural poor besides effectively utilising unpaid family labour. There is ample scope for establishing cottage industries based on goat meat and milk products and value addition to skin and fibre.
xv) Goat is termed as walking refrigerator for the storage of milk and can be milked number of times in a day.
2 Scope for goat rearing and its national importance
2.2 Goat make a valuable contribution to the livelihood of economically weaker sections of the society. Amongst the livestock owners goat rearers are the poorest of the lot.
2.3 Realising the importance of goat in the agrarian economy of the country, various developmental activities have been taken up by Govt.of India. The Central Government had established Central Institute for Research on Goats at Makhdoom, Farah, Mathura District,UttarPradesh. During VIII Plan Period Seven Intensive goat breeding farms were proposed with the objectives:
i) To produce 1000 stud bucks per year for the distribution among goat rearers
ii) To improve yield of milk and chevon through selective breeding of regular breeds like Jamnapari, Beetal, Barbari, Jakhrana, Jhalawadi.
iii) Cross breeding of non Pashmina goats with Angora goats to produce Mohair in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
iv) To conserve germ plasm of regular breeds like Jamnapari, Beetal, Barbari, Black Bengal, Malbari, Sirohi etc.
3. Financial assistance available from banks/NABARD for Goat rearing
3.1 NABARD is an apex institution for all matters relating to policy, planning and operation in the field of agricultural credit. It serves as refinancing agency for the institutions providing investment and production credit for agriculture and rural development. It promotes development through a well organised Technical Services Department at the head office and Technical Cells at each of the Regional Offices.
3.2 Loan from banks with refinance facility from NABARD is available for starting Goat farming. For obtaining bank loan, the farmers should apply to the nearest branch of a Commercial or Co-operative or Regional Rural Bank in their area in the prescribed application form which is available in the branches of financing bank. The Technical Officer attached to or the Manager of the bank can also help/give guidance to the farmers in preparing the project report to obtain bank loan.
3.3 For goat rearing schemes with very large outlays, detailed reports will have to be prepared. The items of finance would include costs of assets like Development of land, construction of sheds, purchase of equipments, purchase of breeding stock, rearing cost of animals till it generates income etc. The cost of land is not considered for loan. However, if land is purchased for setting up a goat farm its cost can be treated as party's margin as per the norms.
i) Nearness of the selected area to veterinary dispensary, goat breeding centre, marketing outlets for fattened kids/meat and the financing bank's branch.
ii) Availability of good quality animals in nearby livestock markets. The distribution of goat breeds in India are given in Annexure-IV and Fig. 1. Production parameters of breeds are given in Annexure V and VI.
iii) Availability of training facilities.
iv) Availability of good grazing ground/lands.
v) Availability of Green/dry fodder, concentrate feed, medicines etc.
vi) Availability of veterinary aid/breeding centers and marketing facilities near the same area.
B) Economic Viability - This would briefly include :
i) Unit cost of animals
ii) Input cost for feeds and fodders, veterinary aid, insurance charges, etc.
iii) Output costs i.e. sale price of live animals, manure/penning charges, etc.
iv) The average unit cost (indicative only) of goat rearing units is assumed for calculating project cost.
v) Income-expenditure statement and annual gross surplus.
vi) Cash flow analysis.
vii) Repayment schedule (i.e. repayment of principal loan amount and interest).
Other documents such as loan application forms, security aspects, margin money requirements etc. are also examined. A field visit to the scheme area is undertaken for conducting a techno-economic feasibility study for appraisal of the same. The model economics of goat rearing unit of 50+2 under semi intensive system is given in Annexure VIIa to VIIf.
6. Sanction of Bank Loan and its Disbursement
After ensuring technical feasibility and financial viability, the scheme is sanctioned by the Bank. The loan is disbursed in stages against creation of specific assets, purchase of equipments and animals. The end use of the loan is verified and constant follow-up is done by the bank.
7.0 Lending Terms - General
7.1 Unit cost:
Each Regional Office of NABARD has constituted a State Level Unit Cost Committee under the chairmanship of RO-in-charge and with the members from developmental agencies, commercial banks and co-operative banks to review the unit cost of various investments once in six months. The same is circulated among the banks for their guidance.
7.2 Margin Money:
NABARD has defined farmers into three different categories and where subsidy is not available the minimum down payment as shown below is collected from the beneficiaries.
Sr. No.
Category of Farmer
Beneficiary's contribution
a)
Small farmer
5%
b)
Medium farmers
10%
c)
Large farmers
15%
7.3 Interest Rate for ultimate borrowers :
Banks are free to decide the rate of interest within the overall RBI guidelines.However, for working out the financing viability and bankability of the model project we have assumed the rate of interest as 12% p.a.
regards
kirti
