Effect of breed, age and sex on body weight and various body measurements in Azad Jammu and Kashmir goat breeds.

Pakistan has diversified goat population having 36 goat breeds across the country in various ecological zones. There is an annual increment of more than 3% in goat population resulting in the third largest goat producing country in the world (GOP, 2015). According to 2015 economic survey of Pakistan current goat population is 68.4 million heads (GOP, 2015); the share of provinces is 37, 23, 22 and 18% for Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and KPK, respectively and goat population in AJK is 1.6 million heads (Azad Jammu & Kashmir, 2013). Goat is a small animal as compared to cow and owing to its ability to produce ample milk and less feed requirement it’s known as poor man’s cow in Pakistan. Goat is comparatively small animal and easily manageable. Moreover, goats are excellent browsers and forage from the top down, which makes them efficient biological controls for weeds while substantially increasing vegetative cover by favorable grass and legume species (Singh-Knights and Knights, 2005). Goats are among the fastest growing ruminants in Pakistan. Goat meat is preferred over lamb, poultry and beef therefore; its demand is high. Goat flocks in Pakistan are maintained through traditional production system and their feeding requirement is met through grazing. Main management in goat farming is climate, resource, vegetation, disease control and feed supplements. Small cash investment is needed for goat keeping and sometimes zero input is needed for goat keeping in villages. A large proportion of small farmers particularly women depend on goat keeping for their livelihood. Both live goat and its products have potential for export market. Therefore, meat appears to be primary breeding objective while milk is secondary. There exists diversity among and within goat breeds due to morphological, growth and fertility traits. Moreover, the diversity in performance of trait is due to genetic and non-genetic factors. It is necessary to take into account all factors in order to use genetic variation for effective breeding plans (Afzal et al., 2004). Therefore, indigenous goat resources can be better utilized on sustainable basis if efforts of research and development address indigenous problems. However, at the moment, breed documentation both at phenotypic and genetic level is a priority research area (Khan et al., 2008). Moreover, there is need to prioritize, monitor and manage the goat farming at scientific and farm operational levels (International Livestock Research, 2002). Breeding, genetics, socio economic are the neglected aspects of goat farming in our country. Pak. J. Agri. Sci., Vol. 56(4), 963-967; 2019 ISSN (Print) 0552-9034, ISSN (Online) 2076-0906 DOI: 10.21162/PAKJAS/19.5298 http://www.pakjas.com.pk