Livelihood through goat farming in the tribal hamlets of Adilabad district

Abstract

Adilabad district has the biggest tribal population (2,50,461) in the state of Telangana, which has a 76.34% rural population of which 35.32% is tribal. The Gonds, Lambada, Kolams, Pardhan, Andh, Thoti comprise the tribal population of this district. Majority of the tribals in the district are small farmers under rainfed situation or landless agricultural labourers. With an objective to make goat farming as a sustainable livelihood among tribal farmers, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Adilabad under Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) Project of ICAR, India, supplied local breed goats and few medicines to enhance subsidiary income of tribes in the district. A total of 54 goats with a worth of ` 2, 70,000 (@ ` 5000 per goat) distributed among 27 tribal farmers in 5 tribal hamlets in the district. Altogether 27 beneficiaries from 2016 to 2019 earned an income of ` 838,500 by selling 130 goats @ ` 6,500 per goat. The current flock size of goats by 27 farmers is 403. The worth equivalent to present market value is ` 28,21,000. Goat farming reduced the migration of rural youth to urban areas. Also adopting goat farming, every beneficiary farmer used family labour efficiently and also ensured regular milk for the family consumption, which is highly nutritious. The manure generated was used in the fields for organic cultivation.