Socio- Economic Status of the Sheep & Goat Farmers in Sundarban, West Bengal

Abstract

A study on socio-economic status of the 5998 goat and sheep farmers of Sundarban, West Bengal was made to assess their financial condition for making a suitable plan to uplift the livelihood on the basis of the survey. It had been observed that women were mostly (69.77%) engaged in sheep and goat farming and their financial condition was poor. The education status of these farmers mostly was below 10th standard and they were mainly engaged in household work. Majority of these farmers (84.02%) had not received any training related to Animal husbandry practices and thus provision of suitable training in this area could be helpful for their livelihood security. As the land holding capacity of these farmer were low, sheep and goat farming can be an alternative tool to enrich their economic status. Analysis of individual earning of these farmers was indicated that caste, family size, education status and knowledge about Animal husbandry had a significant effect on family income of these farmers either from agriculture, Animal husbandry particularly sheep and goat. Education status and land holding capacity had a positive impact on economic condition of these farmers. As a whole promotion of sheep and goat husbandry could be an ideal intervention to improve the socio-economic condition of these islanders whose livelihood was in stake.