Socio- economic Status of the Goat Farmers in Nadia District of West Bengal

Abstract

The socio- economic status of randomly selected five hundred ten goat farmers in and around Mohanpur village under Haringhata block in the Nadia district of West Bengal state revealed that women (62.75%) were mostly engaged in goat rearing. The majority of the goat owners were within the age group of 30- 45 and they were mostly marginal farmers (64.71%). The goat farmers were mixed in caste and most of them were Hindu by religion (68.63%). Most of the goat owners received training on animal husbandry. The caste, family size or farmers’ education had little impact on income generation but training on animal husbandry helped them to earn more. Thus the socio- economic status of the goat farmers mostly women can be uplifted through training particularly on goat husbandry. Hence the improvement of Black Bengal goat in the farmers’ house towards economic goat rearing and knowledge of scientific breeding practice has a potential for improving the livelihood of the poor farmers.