Goat - a potential dairy animal: Present and future prospects

Goats are well-admired and documented worldwide for providing food in terms of milk and meat and their products. They are playing a key role in supporting millions of people who are poor, landless and living in the rural areas. Goats are not only well-embedded in the culture but socially acceptable too for reducing global poverty in particularly for the developing nations. A goat is universally called as "Poor man's cow" Globally about 90% goats are found in the developing world. Asia alone produces about 80% goat milk. Pakistan at present supports 56.7 millions head of goats consisting of about 25 well-recognized breeds found in different regions of the country. Goats annually contribute approximately 275 thousand tones of meat, 851 thousand tones of milk, 25 million skins and 21.4 thousand tones of hair to the national economy. They are also a source of foreign exchange and contribute 2.5 % of the annual milk production. Majority of goats, however, are meant for meat with the exception of some milch breeds. These typical indigenous milch breeds include Beetal, Dera Din Panah (DDP), Naachi, Damani, and Kamori. These dairy goats constitute about five million of the total goat population in the country. Usually small flocks of sheep and goats are raised together both in plains and sub-hilly areas. The goats are being kept under three main production systems viz: nomadic, transhumant, sedentary and household. Major feed resources available for goats are mainly ranges (60%), while other feeding material available to these animals is along canal/river banks; pastures, roadside grazing, crop residues, tree leaves, pods etc. Goats are naturally bred under field conditions. Despite having their crucial role in rural lives throughout the world they have not been properly addressed the way they really deserve. The present paper will review the dairy potential of local dairy goat breeds along with their future scope as a dairy animal.