Human resource contribution to goat rearing systems in Nagaur District, Rajasthan

The present study was conducted in Nagaur district of Rajasthan, which was purposively selected due to its prominence in goat rearing and the significant dependence of rural households on goat farming as a livelihood under arid conditions. Out of the total tehsils of Nagaur district, Ladnu and Nagaur tehsils were selected to represent the district. From each selected tehsil, two villages were selected randomly, making a total of four villages for the study. From each selected village, 30 goat keepers were selected at random, resulting in a total sample size of 120 respondents. The study focused on the distribution of human resource involvement in various goat management activities, including feeding, cleaning of sheds, milking, grazing, marketing of goats, care of young stock, breeding, treatment of sick animals and control of ecto- and endo-parasites. The findings revealed a clear gender-based division of labour in goat rearing practices. Women played a dominant role in most household-level activities. Women were involved in feeding goats at home after grazing in 73.13 per cent of the cases, whereas men and children participated in 18.75 per cent and 8.12 per cent, respectively. In cleaning activities, women contributed 74.38 per cent, followed by men (15.62 per cent) and children (10.00 per cent). Women’s participation in milking was the highest, accounting for 83.75 per cent of the households.