Potential of Small Ruminants in Andhra Pradesh for promoting rural livelihoods: Institutional and policy gaps to be addressed
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Kumar Shalander, Thiagarajah Ramilan, Partha Sarathi Roy. (1/12/2015). Potential of Small Ruminants in Andhra Pradesh for promoting rural livelihoods: Institutional and policy gaps to be addressed.
Abstract
Small ruminants play an important role in the food and nutritional security of millions of rural people
especially the landless, marginal and small farmers in rainfed regions in India as well as in Andhra
Pradesh. The socio-economic value of small ruminant rearing as compared to other livestock species, for
poor farmers in rainfed and dry areas is immense. They produce a variety of products, mainly meat, milk,
skin, wool and manure. Goat and sheep are also among the main meat-producing animals in Andhra
Pradesh as well as in the whole country, whose meat (chevon/ mutton) is readily preferred palate
irrespective of caste, creed and religion. Small ruminants are especially suitable for the semi-arid and arid
eco regions, where they can sustain on sparse vegetation and extreme climatic conditions. Further,
wherever irrigation facilities are poor and farm holdings are marginal or landless, small ruminants enable
effective utilization of common property resources and wastelands as major part of their fodder. It has
been revealed that these rural households have often developed highly efficient agricultural and livelihood
systems that make the most rational and conservative use of the scarce resources available to them
(Barbier, 1989). The rural poor who cannot afford to maintain a cow or a buffalo find goat/ sheep as the
best alternative source of milk and supplementary source of income. . Unlike a cow or buffalo, a few goats
can be easily maintained and can be easily sold in the years of drought. They provide a stable source of
income and nutrition for large number of rural people in the arid and semiarid regions which suffers from
low agricultural productivity on account of frequent droughts, moisture deficit, poor resource base and
low adoption of technologies. Sheep and goats act as cash buffer and reduce the income risk from crop
failure in mixed farming systems (Ramesh et al., 2012). Therefore this sector assumes critical importance
for improving rural livelihoods rural resource poor people in Andhra Pradesh. This paper assesses the potential of small ruminant sector in terms of its contribution towards sustainability of rural livelihoods
and potential for commercialization in Andhra Pradesh.
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Shalander, Kumar https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8072-5674