Academia-Students-Farmer Interface on Goat Farming for Doubling Farmers Income

College of Veterinary Science, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana organized Academia-Students-Farmer Interface on “Goat Husbandry practices for doubling the farmers’ income” under the aegis of Institutional Development Plan- National Agriculture Higher Education Programme (IDP-NAHEP) programme. Dr Parkash Singh Brar, Dean-cum-Principal investigator of IDP said that this was financed by World Bank through Indian Council of Agricultural Research and a total of 50 farmers from Punjab and adjoining states and 15  B.V. Sc. & A. H. students participated in this interface. He said that IDP project aimed to inculcate the entrepreneurship attitude amongst the youth.  Experts from different areas related to health, management, value addition and marketing acted as panelists. The experts included Dr Paula Menzies, Professor Emeritus, University of Guelph, Canada, Dr Ajeet Kumar, Veterinary Gynaecologist, Dr Vishal Mahajan Veterinary Pathologist, Dr V P Singh Economist, Dr Amit Sharma LPM and Dr Manish Kumar Chatli Head, Livestock Products Technology. Dr Rajesh Kasrija acted as moderator and conducted the session with the farmers, students and experts.

Dr Harish Kumar Verma, Director Extension Education apprised the farmers about various extension initiatives and facilities provided by the veterinary university. Dr Manish Chatli emphasized about the importance of value addition of goat milk and meat for better revenue generation and employment generation. He also discussed about the marketing requirements and strategies for a successful enterprise. The practical demonstration on value addition of goat meat and milk in various products for enhancing farmer income was also organized.

Roshan, a progressive goat farmer from Village Kharoura, Fatehgarh Sahib, told his success story and stressed that goat farming on commercial line should only be started after taking training and guidance from Veterinary University. Dr A.S. Nanda, Vice-Chancellor, GADVASU applauded the efforts of the team and also stressed for the establishment of farmer producer organizations (FPOs) and shelf help groups for better marketing of goat products including goat kids.