Profitability and Socio-Economic Upliftment of Small-scale Goat Farmers in Mymensingh District of Bangladesh

Abstract

A survey was conducted in Khagdahar Union of Mymensingh district of Bangladesh to determine the socioeconomic profile of goat farmers, goat management techniques, and the profitability of small scale goat farming. The study integrated randomly chosen sixty goat-raising farmers from three villages. According to the findings, the majority of the farmers in the research area (80%) raised Black Bengal goats in a semi-intensive method. The majority of farmers (52%) constructed tin-shade homes for their goats without considering adequate ventilation (63%). The goat farmers of the study area were predominantly middle-aged (48%), illiterate (60%), female (90%), and had a medium-sized family (60%). The majority of the farmers were landless (80%) and had started farming with their own money (53%). About half of the farmers (52%) used supplement feeding with grazing, preferring roadside grazing systems (87%) as a fodder source, and only fed wheat bran to goats (52%) as a concentrate. Skin disease is the most common ailment, accounted for 63%. The majority of the farmers only had a rudimentary understanding of the disease, and only 16.7% of them followed to a regular vaccination schedule. Marginal farms had the highest net profit per goat (BDT 3168), followed by landless (BDT. 3028), while small goat flock owners had the lowest net profit per goat (BDT. 2589). The survey also discovered that goat producers were having some serious challenges with their herds. If these issues could be resolved, the goat farms would be able to generate more money than they currently do.