PIG RERING IN BELLARY RURAL AREA
Gangadhar L
Research Scholar, Department of Development studies
Kannada University Hampi
Vidyaranya, Hospete Taluk, Bellary District, Karnataka State India.
Gmail: gangadhar321tl@gmail.com Phone: 9686608533
Abstract
Livestock is common in Indian cities and contribute to food security as well as livelihoods. Rural livestock keeping has been neglected,. All reared cross-bred pigs. Pig sheds were mostly basic, with bricked floors in farms in peri- Rural areas, and more than had corrugated iron roofing sheets. The study was conducted to appraise the in-depth scenario of socio-economic status of pig rearers, management practices in pigs and to identify constraints in rural areas of Bellary districts. In the study, it was found that majority of rearers were women for the purpose of business in backyard Neck/girth tethering was the preferable rearing system by the farmers. Pigs were mostly fed twice a day with kitchen waste, rice polish and juguli. It was concluded that due to lack of awareness, majority of farmers do not follow scientific feeding, breeding and health care practices.
Keywords: cross-bred pigs, livelihoods, Pig farming, domestic pig, socio-economic status
Introduction
Pig farming is an important livelihood source for many household communities in Bellary. Pigs are reared to earn family income which in turn used to meet basic needs such as food, medicine and clothing. Pigs in such low-input systems provide value added for farmers by consuming feed that would otherwise be wasted. The domestic pig is an animal which has been very much neglected by the community. Very scanty information’s are available on socio-economic status of pig rearers and different management system of pigs in rural areas of Bellary. Therefore, this study was carried out to evaluate the socio-economic status of pig rearers and management practices of pigs in rural areas of Bellary. The annual income of the rearers from pig husbandry varies from rupees twenty thousand to 1 lakh. They also confessed that pig farming is a profitable business and they used the profits to buy food, medicine, cloths and education of their children. All the pig rearers procured the piglets from local market especially weekly market. It was reported that no piglets were brought from government farm or organization. In these areas, most of piglets procured by farmers were no descriptive.
In this study, mostly pig rearers preferred neck/girth tethering, and rest preferred straw shed with katcha floor, straw shed with concrete flooring , CGI roofing with concrete flooring and pen system , which is quite similar with the housing pattern observed in other parts of Free range system of rearing was absent during the study due to socio-religious Korach and Koram . There were no separate housing were observed for piglets, male and females. Pig rearers cleaned their pig sties in variable frequency. Most of the pig rearers cleaned once in a week which was also concurred Hygiene and sanitation is important to keep the pigs healthy and disease free which ultimately helps in better growth. In the present study, use of concentrate ration was negligible. Pigs were mostly fed with kitchen waste, colocasia, rice polish and juguli). Majority of the pig rearers had a rice
Occupation
Pig farming is much popular amongst the landless, small marginal farmers ,followed by the agricultural laborers, whereas, small business holders and of service men are involved in pig rearing organized and unorganized farmers managed their pig farming through family labour.
Pig housing system
Survey indicated that majority of farmers kept their pigs confined during night only (54.66%), some farmers kept their pigs confined during both day and night (17.33%) and no housing was provided to pigs in 28% cases. Farmers housed their pigs with other animals (36%) and with themselves in their dwelling places (9.33%); 54.66% farmers kept their pigs separately. Results indicated that 52% farmers housed their pigs in kachcha house, in pucca and in partially pucca house. housing systems are very simple and are designed only to provide feeding and watering facilities to the animals, minimum fencing and protection from rain, major housing materials are bamboo and jute-stick which are freely available locally, and earthen or cement-cast mangers and earthen floors are adequate for animals being raised under a stall-feeding- cum-grazing system but are not hygienic for animals on stall-feeding only
Pig feeding system
Pig farmers used to rear pigs by tethering. This simple device has made possible of keeping pigs out-of-doors and at the same time on a limited area. Grazing without tethering was found to be .Pond water as the source of water for pigs was found to be very common and in only cases farmers used well water and tube well . farmers managed their pigs in both under stall-feeding and stall-feeding-cum-grazing systems and also tethered grazing is the usual practice pig farmers provided clean water for the purpose of drinking in Bellary.
Marketing
In the study area, there was a good demand of pork among the ST, SC and some OBC communities. The main source of piglets in the study area was local weekly market. However, government intervention was noticed by providing male crossbred piglets . The price of each piglet varies from Rupees2,500-3,000 depending on various conditions
Conclusion
Socio-economic profile study, it can be said that pig farming is still an occupation of poor SC community. For any pig improvement programme, female members should be engaged no Training should be offered in such a way that illiterate people can follow this improving the condition of the pig houses including floor and roof feeding system study, it can be said that due to warm and humid noon, it is better to reschedule the grazing pattern – morning and after-noon. As a sizeable number of farmers provide pond water for drinking purpose, the quality of pond water should be taken care of to reduce the water borne diseases. Pig population was mainly fed with kitchen waste, colocasia, rice polish and juguli twice a day. The sanitary condition was satisfactory. Malnutrition, lack of scientific knowledge, non availability of veterinary health care, high cost of concentrate ration, lack of elite breeding boar and disease outbreaks were the major constraints in pig rearing.
Reference