eChapters

Olericulture, a Latin word, is used to designate the science, culture and management of vegetable crops. In India, about more than fifty vegetable crops are grown in different parts, depending on their climatic requirement. A number of vegetables have similarity in their method of cultivation, which makes the package of practices followed by the farmers for their cultivation very complicated and brings about a lot of repetition. Whichever the method is adopted for the classification of vegetables can systematize the preparation and presentation of the material to some extent and can avoid the unnecessary duplication of some of the principles and methods of vegetable cultivation. In different vegetables, different plant parts are used as food in different forms and they belong to different botanical families with varying cultural and climatic requirements but common insect-pests and diseases along with their common control measures.

Various methods may be used to classify all the vegetable crops into different categories but no single method of classification would be useful to serve the purpose for different groups of scientists like taxonomists, botanists, physiologists, horticulturists, agronomists, and breeders. Under field conditions, the classification based on cultural practices has been proved the best adaptable and very useful for the growers. Vegetable crops can be classified in the following ways for the convenience of different groups of scientist and growers:

In view of fast development of industrial sector and rapid urbanization, the vegetable gardening of various types has great scope for providing food and nutritional security, promoting health, solving employment problem and raising the economic status of an individual and the country as a whole. In many of the developing countries, protein-energy malnutrition is the most important health problem, which has long-term ailing consequences. Iron and vitamin A deficiencies are also potent contributors towards morbidity, mortality, underweight and stunted growth of individuals. Vegetables from homestead gardens can combat these dreaded social nuisances. In many cases, indigenous vegetables, gathered or grown wild, are more nutritious than foreign high value exotic species (Drescher, 1998). Various types of vegetable farming are being practiced the world over depending on the area available and objectives for the disposal of the produce. Based on the mode of disposal, the vegetable gardening can be categorized into two types:

The importance of fruits and vegetables in human nutrition is well known. Vegetables are a rich and comparatively cheaper source of minerals and vitamins. Besides, their consumption in sufficient quantities provides taste and palatability, increases appetite and provides a fair amount of fibers. These are currently reckoned as an important adjunct for the maintenance of good health and beneficial in protecting against some degenerative diseases, thus, they form a vital part of human diet. Besides, vegetables now a day are being considered as an asset for providing a good source of income to the growers.

Vegetables originated in different parts of the world, some came from tropical or subtropical countries and others from temperate zones, some from humid areas and others from climates that are more arid. Most of the countries in the world are gifted with varied agro-climatic environments for growing an array of vegetable crops to combat the present imbalanced diet of a vast population of the world, particularly in the developing countries. Production of vegetables in developed countries is much higher, for instance in Japan, nearly 40% of the diet of the people is vegetables. To meet out the full dietary needs of the common man, to eliminate malnutrition, deficiency of minerals and vitamins and also to relieve the stress for increased production of cereals, there is a greater need for growing vegetables on larger scale. As such, for increased production of nearly 247 known vegetable crops, a sound knowledge of the various aspects of vegetable production technology, environmental stresses and constraints, techniques of raising, pre- and post-harvest technology, marketing and seed production techniques is of utmost importance. Breeding and selection of new cultivars have allowed for a greater adaptability to less favourable growing conditions than was possible in the past but the inherent agroclimatic requirements of a specific kind of vegetable have not changed materially. Time or season of planting of a particular vegetable crop is determined by its environmental requirement. Knowledge of specific agroclimatic conditions required for a particular crop could enable the grower to select the best season of planting in any particular area (Singh et al., 1991).

Seed is the basic input of agriculture, and its importance has now well recognized in the food supply chain since the warranty for production could be succeeded only based on the availability of seed. Seed becomes the quality seed, on possession of specific characters, viz. germination, vigour, purity and health status, hence, seed production becomes the specified scientific technology with the foreseeing of quality and storability in addition to productivity. From time immemorial, seeds are being imposed with some management techniques for improvement in seed quality and thereby the productivity. These seed management techniques are known as seed treatments. Generally, seed treatment is the application of biological, chemical agents and physical techniques to the seed in order to obtain the benefit of plant protection, production and invigouration. Basically, seed treatments are intended to improve the quality of seeds since nothing can substitute poor quality seed, no matter how lavishly other inputs are spent on the crop established from such seeds. Even for a resource poor farmer, high quality seed would be a great advantage because it ensures the best utility of all inputs in addition to the augmentation of yield increase by 15 to 20%.

In general, seed treatment could broadly be classified into physical and physiological treatment. Physical treatment is external seed treatment, while physiological is impregnation of needy substances into the seed through various seed management techniques. Some of the germination augmenting physiological seed treatments are seed fortification, seed hardening, seed priming, dry permeation and pre-germination. In addition, some of the seeds are imposed with special treatments such as dormancy breaking treatment such as soaking in water, mechanical scarification, acid scarification, bio-scarification, scorching, warm stratification, cold stratification and electrical seed treatment. The common physical seed treatments are seed pelleting, seed coating/film coating and seed colouring. Seeds are also imposed with some other physical treatments that can act on the physiology of the seed such as irradiation, magnetic and electrical seed treatment. In addition, irrespective of seed, seeds are given with protective treatment when they are taken for storage, which are commonly termed as pesticide seed treatment. Seeds are also given with corrective treatment at their initiation reduction with seed quality characters during storage, which are termed as mid storage correction.

Nursery management is indeed a very important operation in successful growing of vegetables especially those, which are raised through seedlings in properly managed nursery beds. Raising nursery from seed provides an easy and convenient way to nourish tender young seedlings in a well-managed small and compact area. The nursery area can be conveniently protected from natural hazards, seed borne diseases and insect-pests and can be well managed economically. Some of the vegetable seeds are very costly, for which it is necessary to raise nursery in the most-optimum conditions. In areas where land holdings are small (in hills), nursery raising helps in making economical use of land for about one month and provides enough time to mature for previous crop, harvesting, threshing and land preparation for next crop. Most of the vegetable crops like cabbage, cauliflower, tomato, eggplant, sweet pepper, hot pepper, onion, celery, parsley, lettuce, etc. can successfully be raised through seed by growing them in the nursery and then transplanting in the field.

“A vegetable nursery is a place or an establishment for raising or handling young vegetable seedlings until they are ready for more permanent planting.”

Nursery can be maintained either for personal or commercial purpose, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Seedlings raised for own planting will be true to type, sound and healthy. On the other hand, seedlings purchased from outside may not be true to type, vigorous and healthy and may not arrive at destination in due course of time.

After attaining green revolution, nutritional security is of utmost importance in the current agricultural scenario. Vegetables play a key role in providing nutritional security in the country. They are important and readily available source of mineral nutrients and vitamins and play a vital role in the financial economy of the majority of small and marginal farmers. Further, these roles are becoming more transparent in the light of agriculture diversification as the vegetables have many agro-economic advantages and can fit into varying cropping systems under diversified conditions. After China, India is a leading vegetable producer but the productivity of vegetables per unit area is very low compared to other developed countries. Poor crop stand establishment is one of the factors responsible for low productivity. Yield and productivity can be improved by using advanced technology on the field preparation, optimum sowing conditions, correct nursery practices and planting methods.

Almost all the vegetable crops are propagated by seed, except a few. Crops are raised either by direct seeding in the field or by transplanting seedlings raised in nurseries. Direct seeding is the placement of seeds at desired depth into the final location where soil environment is ideal for optimum germination and crop stand establishment. On the other side, transplanting refers to removal of actively growing seedlings from one place to another with the purpose of having them continue their growth in the new location until harvest.

The vegetable crops like peas, beans, cowpea, okra, beet leaf, spinach, fenugreek, coriander, carrot, radish, turnip, beetroot, etc. are sown directly in the field, while tomato, eggplant, hot pepper, sweet pepper, onion, leek, sweet potato, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprout, kohlrabi, kale, lettuce, celery, parsley, rhubarb, squashes, etc. are first sown in the nursery beds where seedlings are raised and then transplanted in the main field. Both direct seeding and transplanting are practiced in most of the cucurbits like gourds, cucumber, melons and pumpkin.

The directly sown vegetable crops do not respond to transplanting because their embryonic roots do not produce lateral fibrous roots after uprooting unlike transplanted crops where numerous fibrous roots are generated, thus, making the plant to absorb more nutrients.

Soil fertility and crop production can be maintained only by efficient and judicious management of nutrients addition to the soil from external sources. Of the two sources most widely used all over the world, one is organic in nature- the organic manures, simply called manures, and the other comprises the synthetic or naturally occurring chemical fertilizers, simply called fertilizers. A brief account of manures is described hereunder:

The word manure came from Middle English manuren meaning to cultivate land, and initially, from French word manoeuvre meaning hand work alluding to the work which involved manuring land. The term manure originally meant that which was worked by hand (Fr. manoeuvre), but gradually, came to apply to any process by which the soil peroperties could be improved. Prominent among such processes was that of directly applying manure to the land, manure in this sense being what is now called farmyard manure or dung, the excreta of farm animals mixed with straw or other litter. Ronald Fisher seems to have used the word manure systematically for what we would call fertilizer today.

Uses of Manure

Manure has been used for centuries as a fertilizer for farming since it is rich in nitrogen and other nutrients, which facilitate growth of the plants. Liquid manure from pig or hog operations is usually knifed (injected) directly into the soil to reduce the unpleasant odours. Manure prepared from hogs and cattle is spread on fields using a manure spreader. Due to the relatively lower level of proteins in grasses, which herbivores eat, cattle manure has a milder smell than the dung of carnivores, e.g., elephant dung is practically odourless. However, due to the quantity of manure applied to fields, odour can be a problem in some agricultural regions. Poultry droppings are harmful to plants when fresh but after a period of composting are valuable fertilizers.

The dried manure of animals has been used as fuel throughout history. Dried manure (usually known as dung) of cow was and still is an important fuel source in countries such as India, while camel dung may be used in treeless regions such as deserts.

Many materials can be applied to the soil as source of plant nutrients but the term fertilizer is often used to refer to relatively soluble nutrient sources with a high analysis or concentration. Commercially available fertilizers supply essential elements in a variety of chemical forms but many are relatively simple inorganic salts. Advantages of commercial fertilizers are their high water solubility, immediate availability to the plants, high concentration and low price per unit of nutrient, and the uniformity and accuracy with which specific amounts of available nutrients can be applied. Since they are relatively homogeneous compounds of fixed and known composition, it is fairly easy to calculate precise application rates and attain relatively consistent performance. This is in contrast to organic nutrient sources, which are a much greater challenge to manage because of their variable composition, variable nutrient availability and patterns of nutrient release that are greatly affected by temperature, moisture and other conditions that alter biological activity.

The solubility of commercial fertilizers can sometimes be a problem since soluble nutrients may move out of farm fields when applied in excess or large rains occur soon after fertilizer application. Soluble nutrients can be lost by leaching on well-drained soils and through tile outlets or in runoff on poorly drained soils. Denitrification can cause large losses of nitrate-N from water-saturated soils in wet springs.

Increasing soil cation exchange capacity by increasing organic matter reduces the movement and loss of some nutrients, although not nitrate-N (an anion). Management practices that synchronize nutrient availability with crop demand and uptake also minimize losses. Both application timing and the amount of fertilizer applied are important. Splitting fertilizer application into several small applications rather than a single large one is especially important to limit nitrogen leaching on well-drained sandy soils. Split nitrogen applications can also reduce nitrogen losses in runoff or from denitrification on poorly drained soils. Excess nutrient applications can be eliminated or at least significantly reduced by soil testing on a regular basis, setting realistic yield goals and fertilizing accordingly, accounting for all nutrient sources such as legumes, manure and other amendments and using plant analysis as a monitoring tool for the fertilizer program.

Increasing food need, decreasing land availability and concurrently attenuating synthetic nutrients supply envisage the use of alternate supplementary inputs for the cultivation of crops. India is among the few nations where systematic farming started thousands of years ago. It was not only the source of income but was also a way of life. Agricultural activities and the techniques adapted to suit local needs and conditions. Different farming systems were followed by the farmers in different areas according to their needs and weather conditions. The produce was usually shared with other communities of the society involved in other professions. Almost all the nutrients removed by the crops were recycled to the soil directly or indirectly (Yadav and Mowade, 2005). In economic terms, the system followed by the then farming community was highly cost effective since all the inputs needed were locally available and practically no expenditure was incurred except labour. The traditional agriculture was though less productive but self-sufficient. With the advent of modern scientific discoveries, agriculture also changed its face, and with the introduction of high yielding varieties, synthetic fertilizers and effective plant protection measures through chemicals, Indian agriculture made rapid strides in the shape of Green Revolution. As an upshot of Green Revolution, the grain production increased two and a half folds in about three decades with a marginal increase in net-area under cultivation.

India is a major exporter of vegetables with 10th position in the world. In the past, the Dexport of Indian vegetables was restricted to potatoes and fresh onions, however, now, the Government of India finds great opportunities for expanding exports of several vegetables including lettuce, fresh peppers, tomatoes, squashes, gherkins, etc. Under World Trade Organization (WTO) regime, the development of stronger seed industry and improved production technology will give India a competitive edge in global market. New opportunities and challenges are emerging every day in the dynamic and global vegetable-based industries. However, such opportunities can be harnessed only if assured quality, in terms of organic farming and reduced pesticide residues, is maintained (Shanmugasundaram, 2004).

Mulching is a practice of covering the surface of soil with plastics, organic and non-organic materials like straw, grasses, sands, stones (boulders), synthetic plastics, etc. to reduce evaporation and to moderate wide fluctuations in diurnal soil temperature, especially in the root zone environment. It controls external evaporability and reduces energy supply to the evaporating site by cutting off solar radiation falling on the ground. Its main function is limited to control first stage of drying, which helps in improving moisture status and reducing soil temperature (Loy and Wells, 1975), besides checking seedling mortality and improving crop stand. It also suppresses weed-flora and reduces weed competition with crop for water and nutrients making them available in greater quantities for crop plants. Moreover, mulching helps in increasing downward movement of water, and its storage deep in the profiles escapes evaporation due to reduction in thermal gradients and exchange of vapours. The effectiveness of mulches in conserving moisture has generally been found to be higher under more frequency of rainfall, drought conditions and also during early period of plant growth when canopy cover remains scanty.

Most of us consider weeds to be the troublesome, competitive, aggressive, undesirable, unsightly elements of the plant world. We hate weeds since desirable plants cultivated by us are deprived of food, water, sunlight and space by these plants. They can easily colonize an area and thrive even under non-ideal conditions of growth and may affect human welfare adversely. It is perhaps due to this that the saying, when weeds win all the people lose, has come into existence.

The terminology committee of the Weed Society of America gives the simple definition of weed as a plant growing where it is not desired. King (1974) in his book Weeds of the World observed that ‘‘a plant classed as a weed in one region where it has few, if any, uses may when growing in another region, possess some very valuable uses, or in few cases may actually be cultivated’’. For instance, Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) is a highly troublesome weed in crop fields, but in village pastures, it is a much sought for forage grass. Quack grass (Agropyron repens) is a very good soil binding grass on erodable non-crop lands but it is a serious weed when it infests crop fields and orchards. Campbell (1923) considered weeds as ‘honest, independent competitors for food materials in the struggle for existence’. He pointed out that the term, weed has developed in the minds of people not according to specific qualities or by a definite concept in the mind of man, but by human caprice, e.g., corn is a cultivated crop, hence, desirable plant in a corn field. However, if a corn plant grows in a Soya bean field, it is considered a weed by the Soyabean farmer. Sometimes, two persons may differ about the weedy nature of a plant at the same place and time, e.g., water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) is a weed for fisherman but it is a plant of aesthetic value for a city dweller.

Thus, a corollary to the above definitions of weed is that weeds are those plants, which grow out of their place, interfere with the utilization of natural resources, prolific, persistent, resistant, competitive, harmful and even poisonous in nature and can grow under adverse conditions.

Absolute advantage : This is the simplest yardstick of economic performance. If one person, firm or country can produce more of something with the same amount of effort and resources, they have an absolute advantage over other producers. Being the best at something does not mean that doing that thing is the best way to use your scarce economic resources. The question of what to specialise in—and how to maximize the benefits from international trade—is best decided according to comparative advantage. Both absolute and comparative advantage may change significantly over time.

Access to Health Care : 1) The degree to which individuals are inhibited or facilitated in their ability to gain entry to and to receive care and services from the health care system. Factors influencing this ability include geographic, architectural, transportation, and financial considerations, among others. 2) Entry to the health care system is dependent on the wants, resources, and needs that individuals bring to the care-seeking process. Ability to obtain wanted or needed services may be influenced by many factors, including travel distance, waiting time, available financial resources, and availability of a regular source of care.

Acquisition cost : The purchase cost of a drug to an agency, person or institution.

Adaptive expectations : A theory of how people form their views about the future that assumes they do so using past trends and the errors in their own earlier predictions. Contrast with rational expectations.

Backwardation : When a commodity is valued more highly in a spot market (that is, when it is for delivery today) than in a futures market (for delivery at some point in the future). Normally, interest costs mean that futures prices are higher than spot prices, unless the markets expect the price of the commodity to fall over time, perhaps because there is a temporary bottleneck in supply.

Balance of payments : The total of all the money coming into a country from abroad less all of the money going out of the country during the same period. This is usually broken down into the current account and the capital account. The current account includes : *visible trade (known as merchandise trade in the United States), which is the value of exports and imports of physical goods; *invisible trade, which is receipts and payments for services, such as banking or advertising, and other intangible goods, such as copyrights, as well as cross-border dividend and interest payments; *private transfers, such as money sent home by expatriate workers; official transfers, such as international aid. The capital account includes : *long-term capital flows, such as money invested in foreign firms, and profits made by selling those investments and bringing the money home; *short-term capital flows, such as money invested in foreign currencies by international speculators, and funds moved around the world for business purposes by multinational companies. These short-term flows can lead to sharp movements in exchange rates, which bear little relation to what currencies should be worth judging by fundamental measures of value such as purchasing power parity. As bills must be paid, ultimately a country’s accounts must balance (although because real life is never that neat a balancing item is usually inserted to cover up the inconsistencies).

Balanced budget : When total public-sector spending equals total government income during the same period from taxes and charges for public services. Politicians in some countries, such as the United States, have argued that government should be required to run a balanced budget in order to have sound public finances. However, there is no economic reason why public borrowing need necessarily be bad. For instance, if the debt is used to invest in things that will increase the growth rate of the economy—infrastructure, say, or education—it may be justified. It may also make more economic sense to try to balance the budget on average over an entire economic cycle, with public-sector deficits boosting the economy during recession and surpluses stopping it overheating during booms, than to balance it every year.

Capacity : The amount a company or an economy can produce using its current equipment, workers, capital and other resources at full tilt. Judging how close an economy is to operating at full capacity is an important ingredient of monetary policy, for if there is not enough spare capacity to absorb an increase in demand, price are likely to rise instead. Measuring an economy’s output gap – how far current output is above or below what it would be at full capacity – is difficult, if not impossible, which is why even the best-intentioned central bank can struggle to keep down inflation. When there is too much spare capacity, however, the result can be deflation, as firms and employees cut their prices and wage demands to compete for whatever demand there may be.

Capital adequacy ratio : The ratio of a banks’s capital to its total assets, required by regulators to be above a minimum (“adequate”) level so that there is little risk of the bank going bust. How high this minimum level is may vary according to how risky a bank’s activities are.

Capital Asset Pricing Model : A method of valuing assets and calculating the cost of capital (for an alternative, see arbitrage pricing theory). The capital asset pricing model (CAPM) has come to dominate modern finance. The rationale of the CAPM can be simplified as follows. Investors can eliminate some sorts of risk, known as residual risk or alpha, by holding a diversified portfolio of assets (see modern portfolio theory). These alpha risks are specific to an individual asset, for example, the risk that a company’s managers will turn out to be no good. Some risks, such as that of a global recession, cannot be eliminated through diversification. So even a basket of all of the shares in a stock market will still be risky. People must be rewarded for investing in such a risky basket by earning returns on average above those that they can get on safer assets, such as treasury bills . Assuming investors diversify away alpha risks, how an investor values any particular asset should depend crucially on how much the asset’s price is affected by the risk of the market as a whole. The market’s risk contribution is captured by a measure of relative volatility, beta, which indicates how much an asset’s price is expected to change when the overall market changes. Safe investments have a beta close to zero : economists call these assets risk free. Riskier investments, such as a share, should earn a premium over the risk-free rate. How much is calculated by the average premium for all assets of that type, multiplied by the particular asset’s beta. But does the CAPM work ? It all comes down to beta, which some economists have found of dubious use. They think the CAPM may be an elegant theory that is no good in practice. Yet it is probably the best and certainly the most widely used method for calculating the cost of capital.

Deadweight cost/loss : The extent to which the value and impact of a tax, tax relief or subsidy is reduced because of its side-effects. For instance, increasing the amount of tax levied on workers’ pay will lead some workers to stop working or work less, so reducing the amount of extra tax to be collected. However, creating a tax relief or subsidy to encourage people to buy life insurance would have a deadweight cost because people who would have bought insurance anyway would benefit.

Death-to-case ratio : The number of deaths attributed to a particular disease during a specified time period divided by the number of new cases of that disease identified during the same time period.

Debt forgiveness : Cancelling or rescheduling a borrower’s debts to lessen the pain of the debt burden. Debt forgiveness is increasingly viewed as the best way to relieve the financial problems facing poorer countries. Some of these countries have to pay so much in interest each year to foreign lenders that they have little money left to spend on the long-term solutions to their poverty, such as educating their workers and building a modern infrastructure. In 1998 the world Bank calculated that around 40 of the world’s poorest countries had an “unsustainably high” debt burden : the present value of their total debts was more than 220% of their exports. Debt forgiveness has potential drawbacks. For instance, there is a risk of moral hazard. If countries that borrow too much are let off their financial obligations, poor countries may feel they have nothing to lose by borrowing as much as they can. This is why policymakers often argue that debt forgiveness should come with a conditionality clause, for instance, a requirement that countries have a track record of implementing economic reforms designed to prevent a repeat of the errors that first created the need for debt forgiveness. This is the approach taken by the World Bank’s HIPC (highly indebted poor country) initiative, launched in 1996 and expanded in 1999. However, by 2003, only eight of the 38 poor countries eligible under the programme had made enough progress in reform to have some debt forgiven.

Econometrics : Mathematics and sophisticated computing applied to economics. Econometricians crunch data in search of economic relationships that have statistical significance. Sometimes this is done to test a theory; at other times the computers churn the numbers until they come up with an interesting result. Some economists are fierce critics of theory-free econometrics.

Economic Appraisal : See Economic evaluation.

Economic Burden of Disease : See Cost of Illness.

Economic Competition : The effort of two or more parties to secure the business of a third party by offering, usually under fair or equitable rules of business practice, the most favorable terms.

Economic evaluation (Economic appraisal) : The comparison of alternative courses of action in terms of their costs and consequences, with a view to making a choice.

Economic Evaluation : The systematic appraisal of costs and benefits of projects, normally undertaken to determine the relative economic efficiency of programs. See also Cost-benefit analysis, Cost-effectiveness analysis, Cost-minimization analysis, Cost-utility analysis.

Economic indicator : A statistic used for judging the health of an economy, such as GDP per head, the rate of unemployment or the rate of inflation. Such statistics are often subject to huge revisions in the months and years after they are first published, thus causing difficulties and embarrassment for the economic policymakers who rely on them.

Factor cost : A measure of output reflecting the costs of the factors of production used, rather than market prices, which may differ because of indirect tax and subsidy.

Factors of production : The ingredients of economic activity : land, capital, labour and enterprise.

Factory prices : The prices charged by producers to wholesalers and retailers. Because these prices are eventually passed on to the end customer, changes in factory prices, also known as producer prices, can be a leading indicator of consumer price inflation.

Fair trade : Many politicians and NGOs argue that free trade is not enough; it should also be fair. On the face of it, fairness is self-evidently a good thing. However, fairness, in trade as in beauty, lies in the eye of the beholder. Frederic Bastiat, a 19th-century French satirist, once observed that the sun offered unfair competition to candle makers. If windows could be boarded up during the day, he argued, more jobs could be created making candles. American trade unions complain that Mexicans’ lower wages, say, give them an unfair advantage. Mexicans say they cannot compete fairly against more productive American counterparts. Both sides are wrong. Mexicans are paid less than Americans largely because they are, in general, less productive. There is nothing unfair about that; indeed, it helps to make trade mutually beneficial. The mutual benefits of trade also disprove the fair traders’ other complaint, that free trade harms poor countries. (See comparative advantage).

FDI : See Foreign direct investment.

Fee : A charge for a service rendered.

Game theory : How to win at Twister? No, but maybe at monopoly. Game theory is a technique for analysing how people, firms and governments should behave in strategic situations (in which they must interact with each other), and in deciding what to do must take into account what others are likely to do and how others might respond to what they do. For instance, competition between two firms can be analysed as a game in which firms play to achieve a long-term competitives advantage (perhaps even a monopoly). The theory helps each firm to develop its optimal strategy for, say, pricing its products and deciding how much to produce; it can help the firm to anticipate in advance what its competitor will do and shows how best to respond if the competitor does something unexpected. It is particularly useful for understanding behaviour in monopolistic competition. In game theory, which can be used to describe anything from wage negotiations to arms races, a dominant strategy is one that will deliver the best results for the player, regardless of what anybody else does. One finding of game theory is that there may be a large first-mover advantage for companies that beat their rivals into a new market or come up with an innovation. One special case identified by the theory is the zero-sum game, where players see that the total winnings are fixed; for some to do well, others must lose. Far better is the positive-sum game, in which competitive interaction has the potential to make all the players richer. Another problem analysed by game theorists is the prisoners’ dilemma. (See also nashequilibrium).

GATT : See general agreement on tariffs and trade and world trade organisation.

GDP : Gross domestic product, a measure of economic activity in a country. It is calculated by adding the total value of a country’s annual output of goods and services. GDP = private consumption + investment + public spending + the change in inventories + (exports-imports). It is usually valued at market prices; by subtracting indirect tax and adding any government subsidy, however, GDP can be calculated at factor cost. This measure more accurately reveals the income paid to factors of production. Adding income earned by domestic residents from their investments abroad, and subtracting income paid from the country to investors abroad, gives the country’s gross national product (GNP).

Hard currency : Money you can trust. A hard currency is expected to retain its value, or even benefit from appreciation, against softer currencies. This makes it a popular choice for people involved in international transactions. The dollar, d-mark, sterling and the Swiss franc each became a hard currency, if only some of the time, during the 20th century.

Hawala : An ancient system of moving money based on trust. It predates western bank practices. Although it is now more associated with the Middle East, a version of hawala existed in China in the second half of the Tang dynasty (618-907), known as fei qian, or flying money. In hawala, no money moves physically between locations; nowadays it is transferred by means of a telephone call or fax between dealers in different countries. No legal contracts are involved, and recipients are given only a code number or simple token, such as a low-value banknote torn in half, to prove that money is due. Over time, transactions in opposite directions cancel each other out, so physical movement is minimised. Trust is the only capital that the dealers have. With it, the users of hawala have a worldwide money-transmission service that is cheap, fast and free of bureaucracy. From a government’s point of view, however, informal money networks are threatening, since they lie outside official channels that are regulated and taxed. They fear they are used by criminals, including terrorists. Although this is probably true, by far the main users of hawala networks are overseas workers, who do not trust official money transfer methods or cannot afford them, remitting earnings to their families.

IMF : Short for International Monetary Fund, referee and, when the need arises, rescuer of the world’s financial system. The IMF was set up in 1944 at bretton woods, along with the world bank, to supervise the newly established fixed exchange rate system. After this fell apart in 1971–73, the IMF became more involved with its member countries’ economic policies, doling out advice on fiscal policy and monetary policy as well as microeconomic changes such as privatisation, of which it became a forceful advocate. In the 1980s, it played a leading part in sorting out the problems of developing countries’ mounting debt. More recently, it has several times co-ordinated and helped to finance assistance to countries with a currency crisis.

Immunity, active : Resistance developed in response to stimulus by an antigen (infecting agent or vaccine) and usually characterized by the presence of antibody produced by the host.

Immunity, herd : The resistance of a group to invasion and spread of an infectious agent, based on the resistance to infection of a high proportion of individual members of the group. The resistance is a product of the number susceptible and the probability that those who are susceptible will come into contact with an infected person.

Immunity, passive : Immunity conferred by an antibody produced in another host and acquired naturally by an infant from its mother or artificially by administration of an antibody-containing preparation (antiserum or immune globulin).

Joint supply : Some products or production processes have more than one use. For instance, cows can both provide milk and be eaten.

Keynesian : A branch of economics, based, often loosely, on the ideas of keynes, characterized by a belief in active government and suspicion of market outcomes. 

Labour economics : The aspects of economics concerned with the supply and demand for labor. This includes factors affecting the participation rate, wage bargaining and organized labor, training, hours and conditions of work, practices concerning hiring, redundancy, labor turnover, migration and the age of retirement.

Labour intensive : A production process that involves comparatively large amounts of labour; the opposite of capital intensive.

Labour market flexibility : A flexible labour market is one in which it is easy and inexpensive for firms to vary the amount of labour they use, including by changing the hours worked by each employee and by changing the number of employees. This often means minimal regulation of the terms of employment (no minimum wage, say) and weak (or no) trade unions. Such flexibility is characterised by its opponents as giving firms all the power, allowing them to fire employees at a moment’s notice and leaving workers feeling insecure.

Labour theory of value : The notion that the value of any good or service depends on how much labour it uses up. First suggested by adam smith, it took a central place in the philosophy of karl marx. Some neo-classical economists disagreed with this theory, arguing that the price of something was independent of how much labour went into producing it and was instead determined solely by supply and demand.

Macroeconomic policy : Top-down policy by government and central banks, usually intended to maximise growth while keeping down inflation and unempoyment. The main instruments of macroeconomic policy are changes in the rate of interest and money supply, known as monetary policy, and changes in taxation and public spending, known as fiscal policy. The fact that unemployment and inflation often rise sharply, and that growth often slows or gdp falls, may be evidence of poorly executed macroeconomic policy. However, business cycles may simply be an unavoidable fact of economic life that macroeconomic policy, however well conducted, can never be sure of conquering.

Macroeconomics : The big picture analysing economy-wide phenomena such as growth, inflation and unemployment. Contrast with microeconomics, the study of the behaviour of individual markets, workers, households and firms. Although economists generally separate themselves into distinct macro and micro camps, macroeconomic phenomena are the product of all the microeconomic activity in an economy. The precise relationship between macro and micro is not particularly well understood, which has often made it difficult for a government to deliver well-run macroeconomic policy.

Managed Care : Managed care is a livestock health care plan that integrates the financing and delivery of livestock health care services by using arrangements with selected health care providers to provide services for covered individuals. Plans are generally financed using capitation fees. There are significant financial incentives for members of the plan to use the health care providers associated with the plan. The plan includes formal programs for quality assurance and utilization review.

NAIRU : The non-accelerating-inflation rate of unemployment (see natural rate rate of natureal rate of unemployment).

Nash equilibrium : An important concept in game theory, a Nash equilibrium occurs when each player is pursuing their best possible strategy in the full knowledge of the strategies of all other players. Once a Nash equilibrium is reached, nobody has any incentive to change their strategy. It is named after John Nash, a mathematician and Nobel prize-winning economist.

Nation building : Creating a country that works out of one that does not - because the old order has collapsed (as in the former Soviet Union), or been destroyed by war (Iraq), or never really functioned in the first place (Afghanistan). To transform a failed country can involve establishing order through the rule of law and creating legitimate government and other effective social institutions, as well as a credible currency and a functioning market economy. Nation building is rarely easy, and often fiendishly difficult, especially where there are deep ethnic, religious or political divisions in the population or the country has no history of ever functioning effectively. Outside expertise, such as from the world bank, and money (as in, most famouly, the marshall plan) can help, but they are no guarantee of success.

Observational study : Epidemiological study in situations where nature is allowed to take its course. Changes or differences in one characteristic are studied in relation to changes or differences in others, without the intervention of the investigator.

Odds ratio : A measure of association which quantifies the relationship between an exposure and health outcome from a comparative study; also known as the cross-product ratio.

OECD : The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a Paris-based club for industrialised countries and the best of the rest. It was formed in 1961, building on the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), which had been established under the marshall plan. By 2003, its membership had risen to 30countries, from an original 20. Together, oecd countries produce two-thirds of the world’s goods and services. The oecd provides a policy talking shop for governments. It produces forests-worth of documents discussing public policy ideas, as well as detailed empirical analysis. It also publishes reports on the economic performance of individual countries, which usually contain lots of valuable information even if they are rarely very critical of the policies implemented by a member government.

Pandemic : An epidemic occurring over a very wide area (several countries or continents) and usually affecting a large proportion of the population.

Partial Evaluation : Partial evaluations constitute a number of economic study types which consider costs and/or consequences, but which either do not involve a comparison between alternative interventions or do not relate costs to benefits.

Participation bias : People who participate in a study, especially volunteers, may be systematically different from those who do not, in a way that can affect the response to a treatment. For example, if volunteers are chosen to test the effects of a vaccine, one might find a lower incidence of disease in this population simply because they are more health conscious than those who would not volunteer for such a study.

Path dependence : History matters. Where you have been in the past determines where you are now and where you can go in future. Indeed, even small, apparently trivial, differences in the path you have taken can have huge consequences for where you are and can go. In economics, path dependence refers to the way in which apparently insignificant events and choices can have huge consequences for the development of a market or an economy.

Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) : Calculated by adjusting the estimated number of life-years an individual is expected to gain from an intervention for the expected quality of life in those years. The quality of life score will range between 0 for death, to 1 for perfect health, with negative scores being allowed for states considered worse than death

Safe harbour : Protection from the rough seas of regulation. Laws and regulations often include a safe harbour clause that sets out the circumstances in which otherwise regulated firms or individuals can do something without regulatory oversight or interference.

Sample : A selected subset of a population. A sample may be random or non-random and it may be representative or non-representative.

Satisficing : Settling for what is good enough, rather than the best that is possible. This may occur in any situation in which decision makers are trying to pursue more than one goal at a time. Classical economics and neo-classical economics assume that individuals, firms and governments try to achieve the optimum, best possible outcome from their decisions. Satisficing assumes they decide for each goal a level of achievement that would be good enough and try to find a way to achieve all of these sub-optimal goals at once. This approach to decision making is commonplace in behavioural economics. It can be regarded as a realist’s theory of how decisions are taken.

Savings : Any income that is not spent. Ultimately, savings are the source of investment in an economy, although domestic savings may be supplemented by capital from foreign savers or themselves be invested abroad. In an economic sense, savings include purchases of shares or other financial securities. However, many official measures of a country’s savings ratio—total savings expressed as a percentage of total income—leave out such financial transactions. At times when the demand for financial securities is unusually high, this can give a misleading impression of how much saving is taking place. How much individuals save varies significantly among different age groups (see life-cycle hypothesis) and nationalities. Everywhere, people of all ages save more as their income rises. The supply of savings rises when interest rates rise; a rise in interest rates causes demand for funds to invest to fall; a rise in demand for investment funds may cause interest rates, and thus the cost of capital, to rise. The level of savings is also influenced by changes in wealth (see wealth effect) and by taxation policies.

Table shell : A table that is complete except for the data.

Table : A set of data arranged in rows and columns.

Tangible assets : Assets you can touch : buildings, machinery, gold, works of art, and so on. Contrast with intangible assets.

Tariff : Often used to describe a tax on goods produced abroad imposed by the government of the country to which they are exported. Many countries have reduced such tariffs as part of the process of freeing up world trade.

Tax arbitrage : Creating financial instruments or transactions that allow the parties involved to exploit loopholes in or differences between their tax exposures, so that all involved pay less tax.

Tax avoidance : Doing everything possible within the law to reduce your tax bill. Learned Hand, an American judge, once said : “There is nothing sinister in so arranging one’s affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible … nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands.” Contrast with taxevasion.

Tax base : The thing or amount to which a tax rate applies. To collect income tax, for example, you need a meaningful definition of income. Definitions of the tax base can vary enormously, over time and among countries, especially when tax breaks are taken into account. As a result, a country with a comparatively high tax rate may not have a high tax burden if it has a more narrowly defined tax base than other countries. In recent years, the political unpopularity of high tax rates has lead many governments to lower rates and at the same time broaden the tax base, often leaving the tax burden unchanged.

Uncertainty : See information.

Underground economy : See black economy.

Underinsured : Refers to livestock which have some type of livestock health insurance, such as catastrophic care, but not enough insurance to cover all their health care costs.

Unemployment trap : When unemployed people who receive benefits, either from the goverment or from private charity, are deterred from taking a new job because the reduction or removal of benefit if they do will make them worse off. Also known as the poverty trap, it can be addressed, to an extent, by continuing to pay benefit for a while to unemployed people returning to work. (See welfare to work).

Validity : The degree to which a measurement actually measures or detects what it is supposed to measure.

Value added : This usually refers to firms, where it is defined as the value of the firm’s output minus the value of all its inputs purchased from other firms. It is therefore a measure of the profit earned by a particular firm plus the wages it has paid. As a rule, the more value a firm can add to a product, the more successful it will be. In many countries, the main form of indirect indirect taxation is value-added tax, which is levied on the value created at each stage of production. However, it is paid, ultimately, by whoever consumes the finished product. Another definition of value added refers to the change in the overall economic value of a company. This takes into account changes in the combined value of its shares, assets, debt and other liabilities. Part of the pay of company bosses is often linked to how much economic value is added to the company under their management.

Value at risk : Value at risk models, widely used for risk management by banks and other financial institutions, use complex computer algorithms to calculate the maximum that the institution could lose in a single day’s trading. These models seem to work well in normal conditions but not, alas, during financial crises, which is arguably when it is most necessary to know how much value is at risk.

Wage drift : The difference between basic pay and total earnings. Wage drift consists of things such as overtime payments, bonuses, profit share and performance-related pay. It usually increases during periods of strong growth and declines during an economic downturn.

Wages : The price of labour. In theory, wages ought to change so that the sopply and demand in the labour market are always in equilibrium. In practice, wages are often sticky, especially in a downward direction when demand for labour falls, wages do not fall. In this situation, the fall in demand results in higher involuntary unemployment. Trade unions may use collective bargaining to keep wages above the market-clearing rate. Furthermore, many governments impose a minimum wage that employers must pay.

Wealth effect : As people get wealthier, they consume more. This wealth effect has important consequences for monetary policy. When there is an interest rate increase, future income from assets such as equities must be discounted at a higher rate than before. As a result their owners feel poorer and spend less. A cut in interest rates has the opposite effect. Economists disagree on the wealth elasticity of consumption how much consumer spending would rise if wealth increased by, say, 1%. Different consumers may have different wealth elasticity. If most of the increase in wealth goes to poorer people this may have a different wealth effect than if most of it went to people who are already wealthy. The source of the wealth increase may also matter. If share prices rise or interest rates fall, consumers may be slow to spend out of their increased wealth if they think the increase may be temporary. However, if they think a sharp rise in share prices is permanent and the stockmarket then tumbles, the result may be that consumption falls by enough to cause a recession. The wealth effect of rising house prices is particularly uncertain.

X-efficiency : Producing output at the minimum possible cost. This is not enough to ensure the best sort of economic efficiency, which maximises society’s total consumer plus producer surplus, because the quantity of output produced may not be ideal. For instance, a monopoly can be an X-efficient producer, but in order to maximise its profit it may produce a different quantity of output than there would be in a surplus-maximising market with perfect competition.

Years of potential life lost : A measure of the impact of premature mortality on a population, calculated as the sum of the differences between some predetermined minimum or desired life span and the age of death for individuals who died earlier than that predetermined age.

Zero-sum game : When the gains made by winners in an economic transaction equal the losses suffered by the losers.

Over the past 12,000 years Homo sapiens have moved from the hunter–gatherer life-style to settled agriculture to advanced civilization in urban society with improved quality of life. Livestock has played an important role as an instrument of bringing out this change. Farmers all over the world, attach great importance to livestock ownership as a source of nutrition, as a mechanism for capital accumulation, and concomitantly, as a symbol of wealth and status in the community. Just as in today’s society, money is used to exchange goods and services, livestock including goats used to play the same role in times gone by. Most farmers consider livestock as a important resource for income generation. Livestock sector plays a significant role in supplementing family income and generating gainful employment in the rural sector, particularly among the landless, marginal and small farmers and women, besides providing cheap nutritional food to millions of people. History indicates that livestock has been not only a resource, but also an instrument of dominance and a source of conflict in the society. Livestock especially small ruminants have often served as a means for exchange of goods and services and thus becoming increasingly important in the growth of agriculture in developing economies.

Livestock species which man domesticated for improving the quality of human life include goat, sheep, cattle, buffalo, pig, poultry, horses and camels. Among these goats were the first among livestock species domesticated by man. Goats are among the smallest domesticated ruminants and have served mankind longer than cattle or sheep. Goat is an important source of meat, milk, skin, fiber and manure since then. Traditionally goats have been an important source of income generation among small households. Goats have been used to buy salt, cloth and groceries in many communities. Goats provide a large part of the cash income for smallholder farmers. Goats are friendly animals; with proper attention they maintain good health and can be managed easily even by children.

Sailors and other explorers out on the high seas kept goats as a ready stock of meat & milk on long voyages. Captain Cook’s goat had already sailed around the world before it entered on its first voyage with Cook, and helped save everyone on board the ship from scurvy. Goats are some times kept as pet or companion animal. Their use as pet is common in European countries especially U.K. Some owners keep goats for purpose of goat shows.

Worldwide, almost 90% of the human food supply is provided by only 15 crop species and eight livestock species. The eight livestock species useful to man include cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pig, poultry, camel and horses. All or some of these species provide milk, meat, skin, fiber and manure for use of mankind. Whereas, milk and meat are important component of human food supply, skin, fiber and manure are also useful in different manner. Goats are important food-producing animals especially in tropical and subtropical regions. Goats are the most adaptable and geographically wide spread livestock species.

A breed of livestock is a group of animals that, through selection and breeding, have distinguishable characteristics and resemble one another and pass those traits uniformly to their offspring. Or A breed is defined as a group of animals that has been selected by humans to possess a set of inherited characteristics that distinguishes it from other animals within the same species. A cluster of domestic animals of a species where individuals are homogeneous in certain distinguishable characters which differ from one to the other group of animals constitute the breeds. Breeds are primarily distinguished by visual characteristics: color pattern, polled or horned condition, or extreme differences in form and shape. Breed is indicative of the perception of the breeders and the livestock industry which decides when a group of individuals constitutes a “breed”. Livestock breeds have evolved over time through genetic changes that are both natural and selected by man.

Primarily breeds have been developed to provide increased production of meat, milk and/or wool, pashmina within a certain environmental area. This breed development is a process of continuous selection over a number of generations so as to stabilize the characters in the animals for the selected traits. The distinguishable characters are quite often color markings, size, and shape, hair pattern which may have little economic significance in terms of meat, wool or pashmina production. Breed development may have begun soon after animals were first domesticated. Breed is a group of animals related by descent and similar in most characteristics like general appearance, features, size, configuration, etc. In most cases, selection has been practiced for many generations in order to fix certain characteristics in the breed. The goat breeds have since long been described primarily in terms of physical conformation (chiefly, ear, nose, face and horn), body coat/colour characteristics and body measurements with subtle reference to production traits. Today there are more than 300 breeds of goats, and they live in climates ranging from high altitude mountains to deserts. Some breeds are known by the same name in different places, but are phenotypically different from one place to another. Conversely, there are breeds that look alike but have different names in different places.

Mostly goats are reared in extensive small holder systems in developing countries. Goat breeding programmes in these environments have been limited, amongst other factors, by the non availability of pedigree and performance records for traits of economic importance. Cross-breeding and selection play an important role in increasing production in the goats.The development of breeding strategy for the improvement of goats should be based on genetic parameter estimates of economically important traits. Biological, cultural, statistical, socio-economical and management aspects should also be an important component of the selection process.

Goats were domesticated for the triple purpose of milk, meat and hair. Although the development of milk and hair producing animals did not go together, the development of meat and hair together worked very well and there are several breeds like Angora which in addition to providing fiber, are excellent meat animals too. The development of meat breeds was favored by natural selection. The characters which aided to this aspect were high fertility rates and the relatively more active life which goats were forced to lead in order to get enough of nutrition in poor agricultural lands, deserts etc. where these animals were domesticated. These animals were exposed to the vagaries of the environment resulting in decline in production traits such as milk, meat etc. But meat production was not. Most of the breeds of Asia and Africa are thus predominant meat breeds which have been improved little by conscious effort of breeders. Some of them still have slow growth rate and feed conversion efficiency. The preference for goat meat had eroded the dairy potential of Indian goats, as the fastest growing males are slaughtered for meat purposes and only poor animals are retained for breeding purposes. Careful selection and utilisation of breeding males can alleviate this problem to a large measure and animals for both milk and meat production can be developed.There are several goat breeds that have good potential for meat production. Generally, there have been limited planned selection and breeding programs carried out by animal scientists to improve rate of growth and carcass composition of goats. As a result, many goat breeds deposit less intramuscular and subcutaneous fat. In the past, domesticated meat animals were selected for heavier mature weight and greater rate of gain. Selection for such parameters usually resulted in undesirable characteristics because some of the animals had not only gained weight faster and were heavier at maturity, but also had more subcutaneous and intramascular fat. Since consumers currently prefer leaner red meat, the livestock industry is making significant changes to satisfy these demands. Goat meat has unique attributes which will be beneficial to the present day consumer. Goat meat has 10% more lean carcass than cattle. At the same time the fat content is lower by 47% than beef. These qualities of the goat meat need to be emphasized so that the general public can become aware of this useful product.

Goat anatomy

Understanding of the basic structure and functioning of goats is required to maintain the health and productivity of goats. Anatomy deals with the form and structure of the animal whereas physiology deals with the mechanism of body functions.

The skeleton of goat is made up of the vertebral column, ribs and skull, the limbs, and the joints. There are 7 neck (cervical) vertebrae, 13 chest (thoracic) vertebrae, 6 or 7 lumbar vertebrae, 4 pelvic (sacral) vertebrae and between 4 and 8 tail (coccygeal) vertebrae.The ribs are elongated, curved bones that form the ribcage, which is the skeleton of the thoracic cavity (chest). There are 13 pairs of ribs attached to each side of the thoracic vertebrae. Most of them are fixed i.e. they are joined to the sternum (breastbone) at the front of the chest but the last two pairs are not attached at the front and are called floating ribs.The skull includes all the bones of the head. It consists of a number of flat bones that form immovable joints, most of which disappear with age; and a lower jaw bone (mandible), which forms movable joints with the other parts of the skull.The limbs include forelegs (thoracic limbs) and hindlegs (pelvic limbs). The forelegs consist of shoulder,forearm and a lower limb made up of carpus,metacarpus and phalanges. The hind legs consist of pelvic girdle, thigh, and a lower limb made up of tarsus, metatarsus and phalanges.

The joints are where two or more bones of cartilages meet. There are two main kinds of joints.Fixed or immovable joints have no joint cavity and are united by fibrous tissue or cartilage. Many of these are temporary joints which become fixed as calcium accumulates in the flexible tissues and turns to bone (calcifies) with age. Examples are the joints in theskull, the joints of ribs to vertebrae, and the pelvic and mandibular symphyses (midline joints).Movable joints have a joint cavity surrounded by ajoint capsule. There are two opposing bone surfaces,which have smooth surfaces of very dense bone.

Movable joints have cartilages between the bones to reduce friction and absorb concussion. The inner lining of the joint capsule is the synovial layer, which produces synovial fluid (joint fluid). Examples include joints of the limbs, such as the shoulder and the hip, and the joint between the skull and the vertebral column.

Goat husbandry has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of goats. Goat rearing for long mainly consisted of “zero input” concept, which suits well under extensive system of management. Major goat management systems in vogue are nomadic (transhumant)/extensive, semi-intensive and intensive, which have evolved on age-old experience and convenience of resource poor farmers under diverse agro-climatic and agro-ecological conditions.

Nomadic/Transhumant/Migratory/Extensive System

Extensive grazing lands cover vast areas of temperate Asia, and are important both environmentally and as a source of livelihood for goat and sheep herders.This practice is strengthened by migratory, free range, pasture cum range grazing options. The goats are compelled to often graze over long distances in search of feed and water. Under nomdic (transhumant) system, both grasslands and browse are important vegetation type. Land tenure problems, or lack of clarity in grazing rights are some of the emerging challenges for the goat herders under nomadic system. Many a times, the conflict of interests between settled farmers and herders is increasing with rising population pressure and intensification of agriculture. Poor pasture condition is one of the major constraint for the goat herders under nomadic system. Some of the measures suggested to improve the situation include better grazing management, reseeding with high-yielding species, and herder training.

Goat and sheep are two species which have been traditionally managed extensively. Mixed flocks of sheep and goats are common, although separate flocks of either species can also be seen. Extensively managed animals have considerably more behavioural freedom compared to intensively managed animals that are always more confined. Goat has an advantage over other species of livestock in that they can live and produce on land unfavourable for other forms of agriculture. Goat has the ability to forage and survive in areas, where cattle and buffaloes would perform poorly. Goat can revert to wild conditions if given the opportunity whereas sheep donot.

Introduction

Optimum nutrition is one of the fundamental requirement for sustainable and efficient goat production . It involves the judicious selection and use of available feed resources in formulating a palatable, economical and nutritionally balanced ration for goats. In common with cattle, sheep and buffalo, goat is endowed with a pouch in the stomach called rumen and can digest a wide variety of herbage (tree leaves, grasses, weeds, legumes); agro-industrial by-products (Salseed meal, neem seed cake, bagasse, molasses, citrus pulp, oil cakes) and non-protein nitrogen sources such as urea. The rumen ecology of the goat is unique among other ruminants, with an adaptability to rapid changes in dietary components.Goats are reputed to be better utilizers of poor quality roughages. The traditional feeding systems for goats are based on native grasses available in the natural grassland and forests and the main constraints to goat production are lack of feed, particularly in the dry season. Goat production in developing countries is largely dependent on fibrous feeds –mainly crop residues and low quality pasture –that are deficient in nitrogen, minerals and vitamins. Goats diet in the tropics is largely composed of tree leaves and shrubs (browse), which ensure a reliable and steady supply of nutrients all the year around, albeit at a low to medium quality food

Goats are generally maintained on browsing on natural rangelands, community pastures and tree loppings. Goats prefer browsing as compared to grazing. They can digest tree leaves and farm weeds which cattle do not consume. Now the goats are being used as natural weeder. Goat producers in India are primarily located in semi-arid and arid zones where low capability land with shrub vegetation provides the grazing area. Improved pasture or its management for the goat production is naturally considered irrelevant to landless and socio-economically depressed farmers. Due to progressive fall in the forest cover (currently less than 20%), the administrators and planners are highly critical about the development of goats, dependent on extensive grazing in areas defined as fragile zone. On the contrary, the demand for reclamation of low capability soil to more productive agricultural land is ever increasing with the phenomenal growth in human population over the years in India.

Reproductive processes have profound influence on the ultimate economics of livestock production. Regularity in reproductive functions guarantees a profitable return to the farmers. Reproductive efficiency is paramount to the success of goat husbandry. Disruption of one or another of the reproductive processes in male and female results in decreased reproductive efficiency and hence is of concern to the animal production strategies. Reproductive performance or efficiency depends on many hormonal, genotypic and environmental factors. Environmental stress can drastically reduce reproductive efficiency. Goats are the most prolific of all domesticated ruminants under tropical and subtropical conditions. Goats are genetically endowed with good reproductive efficiency in the sense that goats can breed three times in two years and many breeds give birth to twin and triplets.

Age at puberty in male and female goat

Puberty is the time when the reproduction first becomes possible and is characterized by the release of germ cells and sexual maturity. Age at puberty depends primarily on the growth rate of the kid which in turn depends on its quality and quantity of the feed offered.

Age at puberty in males has been variously defined as the age at which the complete separation of the penis occurs from the sheath, or the age of 1st appearance of spermatozoa in the seminiferous tubules or the availability of the first ejaculate. Although animals develop sex play much earlier than their ability to reproduce,considerable variation can exist between the age at puberty determined in different ways as it evident from the study of Elwishy and Elsawaf (1971) in male Damascus goats. The separation of the penis occurs at a mean age of 242.9 days while first ejaculate could be obtained only at the age of 509.2 days. Age at puberty varies with different breeds, plane of nutrition, presence of females etc. The endocrine development usually precedes the testicular development and androgen production is usually high prior to the actual onset of puberty.

Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs, liver, brain, bone marrow, kidney, or lung. Meat is a nutrient dense food. Meat contains protein, fat, enzymes, vitamins and minerals for proper human nutrition. Goats are important producer of meat besides milk, fiber and skin. Goat meat is lower in calories, total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol, than traditional meats.Goat have number of characteristics , such as high reproductive potential , short generation interval , ability to thrive on shrubs, bushes and tree leaves, high digestive efficiency for cellulose and less susceptibility to infectious diseases, that make them suitable as meat producing livestock. Since these animals are more concentrated in the developing part of the world, they play a major role in subsistence agriculture of developing economies of poor and marginal farmers inhabiting such countries. More than 95 % of goats are concentrated in dry tropical and subtropical areas of poor agricultural potential and even on marginal lands of the world (Morand Fehr and Boyazoglu, 1999). Goat has several other advantages as producer of meat which make it predominant and preferred animal for meat production. Often because of the above mentioned reason, goat meat is sold two to three times costlier as compared to pork in India. Beef is unavailable in India with the exception of Kerala and West Bengal. Goat meat has an edge over mutton too, as the number of goats slaughtered for meat purposes (40%) far exceeds the number of sheep slaughtered for similar purposes. The slaughter rate of goat is at the level of 39.7 % as compared to 31.8% for sheep and 11% for buffaloes, respectively. Sheep and goat meat are both called “mutton” in India. Goats convert the poor quality roughage, browse tree leaves, which would have otherwise gone waste, into valuable source of protein in several desert or hostile areas of the world where other classes of livestock like cattle and buffalo will starve to death. Goat meat production and consumption has an important place in the economy of Asian and African countries. Goats have been recognized as an important source of meat in the rural areas of these countries. Commercial meat-goat enterprises account for majority of the meat-goat production systems and herd sizes range from five to several thousand does. Prolificacy, milk production and pre-weaning growth are important in achieving good productivity of commercial meat production enterprises.

The goat milk has several peculiarities, being a food of high digestibility and high nutritional value.Goats can hardly compete with cattle or buffalo in milk production ability. Goats produce approximately 2% of the world’s total annual milk supply. Neverthless, goat is an important source of animal protein for the landless and marginal farmers of tropical countreis, in areas where other classes of livestook cannot possibly survive and for several classes of people allergic to cow milk. Goats contribute about 4 % of the total milk produced in India. Goats and sheep producing milk for people start with the beginnings of domestication. For thousands of years they have provided sustainance for the people. During the last 150 years genetic selection and better feeding conditions led to several superior goat and sheep breeds in some countries in terms of milk and solids productivity, proving a great potential for evolution in both species, and responding to an increasing market demand and popularity. Some sheep breeds can produce more than 1000 kg milk in one lactation and several goat breeds more than 2000 kg milk, but in physiologically comparable terms of 4% fat-corrected milk both species can be equal. Goat milk production leaders have been capable of producing 10 kg milk per day of lactation.

Goat has been referred to as the Poor mans cow or wet nurse in Europe. Goat provides the cheapest source of milk to the poor both in rural and urban areas. The milk of goats is sweet, nourishing and medicinal. Goat milk is white in colour. Goat milk is whiter than whole cow milk. Butter and cheese made from goat milk are also white, but may be colored during processing. Exploitation of goats as a source of milk for human beings dates back from antiquity. Goat milk has been acknowledged as an ideal food for the aged, the sick and convalescent as well as for infants and growing children. Ever since Cleopatra filled her bathtub with goat milk , fresh goat’s milk has been revered for its superior moisturizing properties.

Goats are used primarily for milk and meat production, but their skin is also a valuable by- product. Goats are an important source of hides and skin . The term hide is used to denote the outer covering of large animals such as cows, buffaloes, horses ,sheep, camel etc. The term “Skin” is applied to that of smaller animals such as sheep, goats , calves etc. Raw hides and skins are used mainly for the manufacture of leather.Goat skin is in great demand for making leather gloves , shoes , luggage, book covers etc.Goat skin was also used in many of the musical instruments .Goat skin has been used since time immemorial as water-containers. The water containers from goat skin were called “Mushk” and the person carrying such containers as “Bhisti”.Pelt is undressed skin of sheep & goats. To prevent putrefication, the skin is treated as well as preserved by dry salting and are graded according to curled type quality of the skin.

The Leather Industry holds a prominent place in the Indian economy. India produces 13.14% of the goat skin production of the world.This sector is known for its consistency in high export earnings and it is among the top ten foreign exchange earners for the country. With an annual turnover of over US$ 7 billion, the export of leather and leather products increased manifold over the past decades and touched US$ 3.40 billion in 2009-10; recording a cumulative annual growth rate of about 5.43% (5 years).It is estimaed that 72.3 million goat skins were produced in India in 2008 (FAOSTAT). India ranks second among the goat skin producing countries of the world, second only to China. India produced 130 thousand tones of goat skin in 2008 ( FAOSTAT) against China producing 351.7 thousand tones and Pakistan 94 thousand tonnes (FAO Stat).

The major production centers for leather and leather products are located in Tamil Nadu - Chennai, Ambur, Ranipet, Vaniyambadi, Trichy, Dindigul ; West Bengal –Kolkata ; Uttar Pradesh –Kanpur, Agra & Noida ; Maharashtra –Mumbai; Punjab –Jallandhar ; Karnataka –Bangalore ; Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad ; Haryana - Ambala, Gurgaon, Panchkula and Karnal; Delhi. India is the second largest producer of leather footwear and garments in the world.

A disease is any process which disrupts an animals’s normal function. Occurrence of diseases causes heavy economic loss in terms of livestock health and production. Presence and accumulation of infectious agents in the environment lead to reduction in quality and quantity of animal products. Strategic control and eradication of economically important diseases will result in enhancing goat production in the country. Goat suffer from many diseases although the susceptibility of goats to diseases is less as compared to sheep or cattle. Goat diseases can be bacterial, viral or parasitic. Viral diseases are more common in herds and are responsible for large scale mortality at one time. With a good hygiene in the barn and if the goats are kept in a way appropriate to their species, most of the diseases can be avoided.

Much attention has not been paid for prevention and control of goat diseases since most of the goats are reared by poor people and prevention and control is generally considered uneconomical. However, this is not true, as small investment in disease prevention and control can bring enormous gains in goat productivity. Simple preventive measures like deworming and vaccination alone can save the herds from heavy mortality and can increase production considerably. Serious and early efforts on diagnosis and prevention of goat diseases are essential in order to improve the health and production. A wide range of bacterial, viral, parasitic infections, causing heavy mortality and morbidity result in huge economic loss to different goat farming systems. Metabolic and nutritional disorders in goats also affect their production performance. Metabolic disorders are of great importance in pregnant goats, especially those carrying multiple foetuses. Deficiencies of essential minerals, metabolites and amino acids below the critical level also adversely affect the production. Therefore, it is necessary to avert these imbalances (calcium, magnesium, Co, Cu, Zinc, Iodine) in the ration. Provision for extra energy and protein in late pregnancy are necessary to avoid parturient paresis due to low blood sugar and high ketones and hepatic insufficiency of glycogen. Soil- plant- animal interactions in relation to the incidence of chronic deficiency diseases of goats are often being observed.

Livestock economics and marketing plays an important role in the economy of farmers in the country. Marketing of goats and goat products suffers from many drawbacks such as involvement of middlemen, avoidable marketing cost, and unnecessary transportation, mortality of animals during transit leading to exploitation of both producers and the consumers. Goat keeping and marketing is fraught with risks. Risks in goat keeping can be managed or reduced but cannot be completely eliminated. Some of the precautions needed include following the recommended systems of management and health care, use good feeding and vaccination schedules and master the art of marketing. Marketing of goat is under the hand of unorganized sector and middleman oriented. Goat producers themselves are most often involved in informal market systems which lead to underestimation of goats’ contribution to the rural and national economy. Goats from villages are sold to middleman or butcher or in the local goat market that go to the slaughterhouses of organized or unorganized sector. Male goat is sold at the age of 12-15 months and at higher prices. However, farmer grows the male goat to sell in festive season for more profit. Market Goat price is highly variable. It differs from region to region. In area where good breeds of goat found, the prices are more for these animals. It also depends on health, body status, production potential and market demand for meat/milk of animals. Infact, male goat is sacrificed before God in many places. Goat market price gets higher during the festive season of Bakrid. “Bakra bech rahe ho ya sona,” a customer was heard exclaiming at Nai Sadak Mandi, considered the biggest goat market in Kanpur. During Bakri Id, male goat is sold even at the cost of Rs 30-35 thousand. Similar stories are commonplace in most other goat markets. Lame and ailing goats are not purchased by customers for sacrificial purpose. For this purpose goats which are at least a year old are purchased. They are recognised by their two teeth.If animal is young one (1-2 yrs old & or pregnant), then price is higher than old animal. Female goats are sold to market for slaughter at the end of their productive life (Spent goat. Normally goats are sold on lot basis and not on body weight basis. With advancing knowledge, the farmers are now demanding price on body weight basis.

The term hydrogeomorphology can be divided into three terms hydro- means water including both surface and groundwater; geo- means the earth and morphology- is the surface expression of the features in the form of landforms. This means that the hydrogeomorphology is dealing with the aspects of water, rocks and earth’s morphological features (land). Of these water and land are most important natural resources for human beings.

Water is synonymous with life. This is a natural resource and an absolute necessity for the survival of the living beings. Human beings have an organic relationship with water. For living and livelihood, human beings solely depend upon the availability of water. They have an inalienable right on water. This is a community resource and cannot be made a tradable commodity, violating normative law of nature. Water is among the most precious gifts of nature to mankind. Most of the ancient towns of the world grew on the banks of the river, and some of the ancient civilizations are known by the names of rivers. Rivers have always been important sources of drinking water and the means of sustaining human, animal and plant life. Whenever one is dealing with water resources development and utilization, it has to be kept in mind that not only quantity of water but also quality of water is very important. The well being and development of our society is dependent on the availability of water.