Goat rearing the old fashioned way: Madhya Pradesh, India

Goat farming near Barwasagar / Barua Sagar Fort, Uttar Pradesh, close to the Madhya Pradesh border in India. Old man pulling down branches with long stick and hook, for his goats. He targets the long pole, with a hook at the end of it, at a suitable branch, and then gives a little tug, leading to the branchlet falling down, to be devoured by his foraging goats. The simplicity of Old world India at its best!

A goatherd or goat herder is a person who herds goats as a vocational activity. It is similar to a shepherd who herds sheep. Goatherds are popular in countries where goat populations are significant; for instance, in Africa and South Asia. Goats are typically bred as dairy or meat animals, with some breeds being shorn for wool (see Goats in agriculture). The word capriculturist, which is derived from Latin, began to appear with some frequency in the late 1940s.

Goats are among the main meat-producing animals in India , whose meat (chevon) is one of the choicest meats and has huge domestic demand. Due to its good economic prospects, goat rearing under intensive and semi-intensive system for commercial production has been gaining momentum for the past couple of years. High demand for goat and its products with potential of good economic returns have been deriving many progressive farmers, businessmen, professionals, ex-servicemen and educated youths to take up the goat enterprise on a commercial scale. The emerging favourable market conditions and easy accessibility to improved goat technologies are also catching the attention of entrepreneurs. A number of commercial goat farms have been established in different regions of the country.

Source: Wikipedia & http://www.icar.org.in

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