Post date: Oct 2, 2012 12:19:58 PM
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.
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:
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:
Routine for feeding and milking
It is described as under:
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:
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:
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:
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.