Sheep Farming Importance in National Economy:
The following is all about Sheep Farming Importance.
Sheep Farming Importance – Introduction to Sheep Farming:- Few countries in the world don’t have any sheep. They are found in tropical countries and in the Arctic, in hot climates and in the cold, in town and in humid locations. There are more than 700 sheep breeds reared in the world, in a variety of sizes, shapes, types, and colors. Sheep were domesticated long before the dawn of recorded history. Wool fibres have been found in remains of primitive villages of Switzerland that date back an estimated 20,000 year. Egyptian sculpture dating 4000 B.C. portrays the importance of this species to individuals. Maybe the first ruminants domesticated by a guy together with goats, sheep are a really precious and important asset to mankind.
Sheep Farming Importance – Characteristics of Sheep:- The following are unique characteristics of sheep.
- Strong herd instincts of cows make them exceptional ranch animals since they keep together in tight and easily handled flocks and don’t disperse widely throughout the available soil, which might make it difficult to shield them from predators and difficult to round up.
- Fantastic ability to survive over a lengthy period of drought and semi-starvation.
- Sheep have the ability to make prime carcasses on roughage alone, so they’re well-adapted to a lot of areas unable to generate grain profitably.
- The arrangement of their lips helps them to wash grains lost at harvest time, and so convert waste feed into profitable products.
- Unique ever-growing fibre which enables ventilation and also protects the skin in the hot sunshine, rain, and abrasions.
- Their visual awareness is exceedingly well-developed. They could discern movement much better than individuals, but cannot distinguish shapes in addition to man.
- Sheep don’t require expensive buildings to house them.
- Sheep require less labor compared to other kinds of livestock.
- Due to their hardiness and adaptability to arid conditions, the north-western and southern peninsular regions of the country have a massive concentration of cows. In the tropics, they’re non-seasonal breeders and could be forced to lamb through the year.
- Due to their close grazing character and ability to utilize very low-set vegetation which no other animal can utilize and their capacity to pay long distances in search of water and adware, they’ve frequently been broadly associated with desertification. In reality, it is not the sheep but the guy who owns the sheep, that is to be blamed for the misconceived control of their grazing lands, leading to desertification. Instead, a controlled and judicious grazing on the non-cultivable land can protect against soil erosion and also make it fertile and suitable for crop production through sheep dropping collected through time.
- There is fantastic variation in the external characteristics of sheep, manifested in the quantity and kind of horns in the form and size of ears, in an arching of nasal bones in certain forms, in length of tail and also in the progression of great masses of fat at the bottom of the tail along with other posterior areas of the body. There are extreme variations too in color of their face and other components not covered with wool. Fantastic variations exist in the quality and color of this fleece. All these variations have provided the basis for improving cows for different goods viz. Variations in wool have been pronounced with regard to color, basic length, fineness and other characteristics. The wool onto the shoulder is finer than that develops on the thigh, stomach and around the tail.
Sheep Farming Importance – Advantages of Sheep Farming:- The following are advantages of sheep farming.
- Multi-faceted utility: Meat (mutton), wool, skin, germ, and to some degree milk & transportation … helps it to play an important part in the Indian agrarian economy.
- The production of meat, wool, and compost provides three different sources of income each year.
- Wool can be stored and stored for higher prices or sold in the shearing time. A harvest of lambs might be promoted in 5-6 months onwards (rather before one year), bringing quite a quick return.
- Mutton is one kind of beef towards which there is not any prejudice by any community in India. The mutton consumption is increasing each year.
- In addition to wool, mutton and to some extent milk, sheep provide employment to approximately 3 million people in the kind of self-employment, as hired labor such as tending flocks during migration, and individuals engaged in wool shearing and in wool and skin processing.
- What’s more, sheep farming is a logical source of livelihood in arid zones in which crop production is an uncertainty and so it suitably fits into desert growth programmes in fashion by protecting them from the vagaries of drought and famine.
- Most suitable of these tiny ruminants to utilize the sparse vegetation in dryland regions through rangeland management and developed (reseeded) pasture.
- Unlike cows, goats barely damage any tree.
- Since sheep eat a different kind of crops compared to any other kind of livestock, they could turn waste into profit and in precisely the exact same time improve the visual appeal of several farms by destroying weeds. Sheep dung is a valuable fertilizer, also since they’re grazed on sub-marginal lands, their droppings are the sole way of improving the development of plants in these locations.
Sheep Farming Importance in Economy:- Sheep production plays a major role in national economy.
- Sheep Farming Importance – They contribute considerably to the agrarian market, especially in the arid/semi-arid and mountainous regions where harvest and /or dairy farming aren’t economical. They play an important role in the livelihood of a large proportion of small and marginal farmers and landless labourers engaged in cattle rearing. Quite a few rural-based industries utilize sheep and wool skins as raw material.
- Sheep Farming Importance – Sheep in India are largely raised on natural grazing lands, wastelands and uncultivated (baron) lands, stubbles of cultivated plants and top packs. Rarely are they retained on grain, cultivated fodder or harvest residue. Sheep are largely reared for meat and wool.
- Sheep Farming Importance – Indian sheep aren’t considered dairy sheep. The productivity of Indian sheep is much lower compared to those of agriculturally more sophisticated countries. Nevertheless considering their nutritional and physical environment, their productivity can’t be considered as inefficient. The significant causes of low productivity are inadequate grazing tools, diseases causing high mortality, morbidity and resulting in reduced production, and serious lack of organized effort for bringing genetic improvement.
Sheep Farming Importance – Bottom Line of Sheep Farming:- In spite of a number of sheep growth activities in operation in different states of the country, sheep rearing still continues to be quite a nomadic/backward proposition and consequently mostly worried about poor and landless people. For scanty suitable grazing lands in most of the states, the shepherds keep on migrating their flocks over extensive areas within or even in the neighbouring countries. Sheep rearing is thus practiced in a diversified form depending on the region and the location. In Rajasthan, around 5 to 6 lakhs sheep have been in permanent migration where the flocks do not return to their home land at any time of the year.