Goat Farming in Sindth Pakistan

Asia and Pacific have a goat population of about 271 million, representing 58% of the total world population. These contribute 62% meat, 49% milk and 62% skin. There are 22 goat indigenous breeds are found in various parts of the world. Animal product contribute over 56 million tons of edible protein and over 1 billion megacalories of energy annually. This protein is equivalent to more than 50% of protein produced from all cereals. The heaviest concentrations are found in China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh, which is together 78% of the total population in Asia. In Pakistan Damani and Kamori are popular, while in other countries breeds are: Barbari, Beetal, Jamnapari, Malabar and Black Bengal.

In 1986 the goat population in Pakistan was 17,541,000 heads while in Sindh was 6,755,000 heads.

In 1994-95 the male population 1 year and above was 4,275,000 heads:
- Female 1 year and above was 25,108,000 heads.
- Young stock less than 1 year was 14,381,000 heads.
- While the total goat population was 43,764,000 heads.

In 1994-95 the total milk production was 15.294 million tonnes while goat milk production was 680,000 tonnes.
In year 1994-95 estimated meat production was 551,000 tonnes.
In 1994-95 the goat skin was 38.1 millions, while total skin was 53.1 millions.

The wild ancestors of the domesticated goat are capra aegagrus of Persia and Asia Minor, Capra falconeri of the Himalayas and Capra prisea of the Mediterranean basin. The Kashmir and Cheghu goat is derived from Capra falconeri. The goat is much more hardy than the sheep and in every respect more fitted to a life of liberty.

Animals provide protein and their skin is used for leather and their traction used for agriculture, manure for fertiliser, solid fuel and bio-gas. Goat is not used for craclion. Skin, wool and hairs of goat strengthen the economy of many areas throughout the world. Goat produces generally two young at a time, some time three and in Sindh due to warm climate, some times goat produce four or five kids at a time. The best time of producing off-spring is at the age of 2 years.

The slaughter by-products of goat are: blood, spleen, compound stomach, head, hide, shauk, heart, kidney, intestine and liver.

Goat industry problems in Sindh are:

Low quality of breeding stock.
Low availability of improved goat breeds.
Poor feeding, neglect housing and herd management and health program.
Inefficient marketing of goat meat, milk and skin without auction markets.
Poor transportation and handling methods of meat and milk.

Lack of technologies for proper goat farming system.

The efficiency of goat production depends to the type of feeding system, level of feeding management and availability of nutrients for high production. The feeding systems by (Devendra 1981) divide into following systems:

Village system.
Extensive system.
Semi-intensive system.
Very intensive system.
Integration with cropping system.

Routine for feeding and milking

It is described as under:

06.45 a.m. feed, water and milking.
12.00 noon; Hay, roots or any seasonal crop.
6.00 p.m: Feed and water.
7.00 p.m: Milking.

Goat milk composition

The milk of goat is sweet, nourishing and medicinal it is not opt to curdle on the stomach as that of cow.

The composition is as under:

Water: 86.2%
Fat: 4.5%
Sugar: 4.8%
Casine: 2.47%
Other Proteins: 0.43%
Ash: 0.79%

The nutrient requirement of goat depend upon:

1) The quantity of nutrients and dietary proportion have to be considered properly.

2) The animal nutritional requirement depend upon the maintenance, growth, milk production and also the level of production based on live weight again or milk production.

3) Diet formula include locally available crop residues, agro-industrial by-products and non-conventional feed stuffs.

4) The diet selected must be nutritionally and economically cheap to afford.

5) The leucaena (L. leucocephala) supplied metabolic energy, protein and minerals

Minerals and vitamins in the diet

The high calcium diet consist of high quality fodder crops-clover, lucerne, oat, tares, hale and comfrey. High phosphate diet consist of cereal and oil cake. The vitamin-A present in green leaves, yellow colour matter of carrots, roots and yellow maize. Some cereals and pulses supply vitamin-B complex. The goat makes vitamin C out of constituents of the blood. The source of vitamin D is sunlight on the substance in the skin. The source of vitamin E is bran or wheat-germ meat.

Rationing standard for the goat are:

For maintenance: 0.9Ib (411g) starch equivalent per 1.00Ib body weight; 0.09 (41g) digestible protein per 100 Ibs body weight.

For production: 3.25Ibs (1.5 kgs) starch equivalent per gallon (4.5 litres) of milk; 0.5 Ib (227 g) digestible protein per gallon of milk.

Goat Feed

It can contain following feed items:

a) Tree leaves: Elm, horse chestnut, mixed leaves, oak, poplar and willow.

b) Leaves of non-legume plants: Artichoke tops, beet-top, mangold-top, nettles, potato haulm, and turnip tops.

c) Fresh legumes: Alfalfa (Lucerene), alsike, beans, clove, kidney vetch, peas, sainfoin, trefoil.

d) Flowering, cereals and grasses: Barley, back wheat, maize, millet, oats, rye, rye-grass, timothy, pasture grass and rotationally grasses.

e) Roots: Artichokes, carrot, fodder beet, kohlrabi, mangold, parsnips, potatoes, swedes and turnip.

f) Silage: Grass, lucrene, maize, oat, pea haulms and pods, rye, vetch and oats.

g) Natural roughage: Brush wood, gorse, heather-tip, treebark, and sweet chestnut.

h) Hays: Barley, clover, couch grass, lucrerne, meadow, oat, rye, rye grass, clover, vetches, oat, wheat.

i) Dried leaves: Artichoke, beech, chicory, elm, grasses, horse-chestnut, lucerne, oak, poplar, willow.

j) Fruits: Apples, cleavers, elm fruit dry, and rose hips.

k) Legume seeds: Beans, lupins and peas.

l) Oil cake: Cotton seed, ground nut, linseed, palm kernel, sesamum, soybean and sun flower.

Deficiency of mineral in the diet are as under:

The milk of goat is sweet, nourishing and medicinal it is not opt to curdle on the stomach as that of cow.

Acetonaemia, Anemia, blindness (contigious opthalmia) coccidia, coccidia, colic, dermatitis, diarrhoea, eczema, enterotoxaemia, ergot, fluke, foot and mouth disease, gas gangrene, goat pox, Johne’s disease, lactation tetany, lice, louping III, pneumonia, pregnancy toxaemia, ring worm, tetanus, ticks, tympany, and worms.

Bacterial Diseases

Anthrax, brucellosis, contagious caprine pleuropneumonia, caseous lymphadenitis, enterotoxemia (pulpy kidney), malignant edema (gas gangrene), mastitis, pasteurellosis, tetanus, clostridum tetan, Johnes disease (paratuberculosis) and tuberculosis.

Viral Diseases

Bluetongue, contagious ecthyma, goat pox, foot and mouth disease, rinder pest, psuedo-rinderpest of goat, leptospirosis, caprine arthritis encephalitis and toxoplasmosis.

Future Research Future research is need in areas of physiology, breeding, reproduction, nutrition, and herd management:

Research is needed in goat breeding, reproduction, selection and multiplication, herd-management nutrition, health, processing, utilisation, marketing and socio-economic studies.
To study the nature and extent of diseases in goat under various management systems, to minimise the prevailing high mortality rate.
To develop efficient methods of processing, storage and improve goat products like meat and milk.
To identify genetic factors have link to puberty, morbidity and proliferance.
To establish storage by the use of cryopreservation to protect exotic and endangered species.
To study breed difference.
To study environmental factors effect on reproductive efficiency.
To study nutritional requirements.
To study the effect of stress on various organs like: thyroid, anterior pituitary and adrenal gland in relation to reproductive behaviour.
To study heat detection and silent estrus.
To study puberty changes in relation to nutrition.
To study rapid selection for genetic traits using monoclonal antibodies for identification of specific gene carriers.
To study the gene transplantation to introduce a particular trait into an animal or to correct a genetic defect.
To study the animals produced from transferred nuclei selected from cells of the desire phenotype.
To study the ovary transplantation to rescue the germplasm of sterile superior females.
To study the use of monoclonal antibodies for improving disease diagnostic technique, vaccine production, ova transfer, semen and embryo sexing.
To study of testicular hypertrophy.
To study parasitic disease, intestinal parasites, viral disease and bacterial diseases.
To study year round availability of different types of feed and their nutritional quality.
To study to check the micro and macro nutrient requirement in the diet.
To study to find goat’s production cycle post-weaning growth, breeding, late gestation and lactation.
To study require to check nutritional needs during growth, lactation and pregnancy phases.
To study needed to check the grazing goat nutritional requirement this is different than stall-fed goat requirement.
To improve utilisation of farm-wastes, by-products, natural fodders and tree leaves.
Research required to study and control the disease and parasitic control in goats.
To study bacterial, viral, fungal and rickettsial diseases in goats.
To needed to study intensive feeding systems, using by-product feeds at different level of nutrition should be evaluated a fattening scheme of goat.

Conclusion

Goat forms an important and integral part of small holder agriculture. They contribute to the livestock industry in terms of milk, meat, skin and some times hair. Appropriate selection of potential meat and dairy goats by means of well-planned artificial insemination program is needed to boost goat industry. Biotechnology is used to reduce the risk of disease in transfer and greatly speed the process of selection, use of monoclonal antibodies for male sexing (identifying male off-spring at fertilisation, adaptation to environment. In female, in vitro fertilisation ooeyte culture, embryo sexing and embryo replication. The biotechnology is used to control breeding, health and nutrition, monoclonal antibody production, embryo-splitting, cloning and sexing of gametes.

The future genetic research shall consist of : To transfer of germplasm (embryos and semen), without transmitting diseases, to identify germplasm responsible for resistant of disease and health problem, to identify special germplasm from indigenous species, by the use of monoclonal antibody technology will help to improve genetic selection.

In future we have to introduce temperate breeds like: Alpine, Anglo-Nubian, the German Fawn, the La Mancha, the Nubian, the Saanen and the Toggenburg.

We need the strengthening the farmer’s ability to produce more livestock products, increase animal populaiton, improve livestock products for domestic demand, industry and exports, provide employment.

References

1) Goat production in Asia, Proceeding of the International Seminar on Recent Improvement in Goat Production in Asia, The Philippine Council for Agriculture and Research and Development, 1985, Book Series No.20/1985, 186 p.

2) Jean Laing, Goat Husbandry, Faber and Faber, London, 1985, 375 p.

3) Agricultural Statistics of Pakistan 1994-95; Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, Economic Wing, Islamabad; 1996; 290 p.

4) Devendra C., 1981, Feeding system for goats in the humid tropics, Int. Symp. On Nutrition and Systems of Goat feeding, 12-15th May, 1981, Tours, France, Vol.1, pp.395-410.