Goats up for sale in a bazaar. File picture

Ranchi, Jan. 23: If Bengal and Punjab depend on Jharkhand for supply of pigs, now it’s the latter’s turn to bank on the two states for procurement of special varieties of goats.

Goats from these two states are being imported by Birsa Agricultural University (BAU), Ranchi, to develop a new breed especially suited for Jharkhand. This comes after the state successfully bred a special variety of pigs called the T&D pigs — a cross-breed between the local variety and the British Tamworth breed.

“Extensive research has revealed that the Black Bengal goat,when cross-bred with the beetle variety found in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab, gave encouraging results. The new variety reproduced around eight kids in two years, each weighing 25 to 35kg when fully grown,” Sant Kumar Singh, the head of department of animal genetics and breeding, Ranchi Veterinary College, BAU, told The Telegraph.

In fact, for research purposes, three varieties of goats — the beetle of Punjab, the Jamnapari of Uttar Pradesh and the black goats of Bengal— were shortlisted on the basis of the animal’s reproductive capacity, meat quality, milk production capacity and quality of hide. The Jamnapari variety was rejected as it was found to be unsuitable for breeding proposes in view of the climatic conditions of Jharkhand.

In Bengal, three types of goats are found — black, grey and white. Singh said the female black variety had a higher reproductive capacity. On an average it can produce three kids thrice in two years, with each kid weighing 15 to 20kg in a year’s time. On the other hand, a male Punjab beetle weighed around 40kg in a year and is known for its fast growth.

In Jharkhand, farmers rear goats only for their meat while milk production is low — as low as less than half a kg. Hence, farmers value goats for their meat alone. As an added advantage, a goat sells at a much higher price in local markets as mutton continues to be the favourite among all classes of people.

“However, even the new breed was found to be still deficient in milk production, giving less than a kilo per day,” added Singh.

Farmers across the state are being encouraged to adopt the new breed of goats, with BAU assuring necessary support.

Further research is being conducted with other varieties as well, notably with the Malabari ones of Kerala and the Sirohi breed of Rajasthan, Singh said.