Socio-demographic Status, Rearing System and Prevalence of Diseases in Black Bengal Goats Maintained in Nadia District of West Bengal

Background: One of the most successful approaches for helping India’s impoverished citizens alleviate poverty and enhance their sources of income is goat rearing. The present study was carried out with an objective to assess the current scenario of socio-demographic status of farmers, managemental practices and prevailing diseases of goats in Nadia district of West Bengal. The predominant availability of black bengal goat resources prompted the selection of these regions. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was undertaken over a period of six months. Survey data were collected from a total of 100 goat farmers in different villages in the Nadia district of West Bengal, India. For each household survey, a structured questionnaire was formulated. Result: Survey data indicated that 72.0% of women farmers are associated with goat husbandry. The data found that 52.0% of goat farmers were in the middle age having attended primary schooling (86.0%). More than half of the farmers (51.0%) reared goats under intensive system of rearing. The majority of farmers (63.0%) did not follow vaccination programme while 52.0% farmers dewormed their goats. Our research revealed that the most prevalent disease-causing mortality of goats was PPR (61.0%). The results of this study indicate that farmers did not pay much attention to management systems and healthcare services because of the low socio-economic conditions. The present study recommends frequent training of farmers in a modern scientific way creating awareness with regular conduct of vaccination campaigns.