IMPORTANCE OF SMALL RUMINANTS FOR HOUSEHOLD'S FARM INCOME IN THE NEW VALLEY GOVERNORATE

Metawi, H. R; Hamdon, H.; Abdel Monaime, M. A.; Abbas, S.

doi:10.21608/jappmu.2013.71612

IMPORTANCE OF SMALL RUMINANTS FOR HOUSEHOLD'S FARM INCOME IN THE NEW VALLEY GOVERNORATE

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Animal Production Research Institute. Agriculture Research Center, Giza.

² Animal Production Dept., Fac. of Agric. (new valley branch), Assiut University.

³ Animal Production Dept., Fac. of Agric., Assiut University.

10.21608/jappmu.2013.71612

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the contribution of small ruminants to farm household's income in Kharga Oasis, which is one of the 3 Oases, of the New Valley Governorate. One hundred and three farmers were randomly selected from six villages and interviewed with a structured questionnaire. Results revealed that the average family size was 5.82 household members from which 1.84 males and 0.38 females participating in agriculture activities. The average (±SE) farm size in the study area was 7.55 ± 1.36 acres .The area cultivated with animal fodder ranged from 30 to 32.5% around the year. The percentage of cattle in the total herd size was 52.88% which was more than other animal species in the herd. Preference for buffalo was very low (1.57%). The second important animal contributing towards the total herd size was goat (20.94%). Livestock alone contribute 49.44% of the total agriculture income in the study area. Within the livestock sector; cattle contribute the highest (42.93%). Small ruminants contribute a mere 5.27%. Nevertheless, the study showed that small ruminant enterprise is economically viable. Small ruminants provided a return of 19.8% from capital invested. This exceeding the returns obtained from various crop production enterprises. These findings have important implication for the improvement of small ruminant enterprises of households in the Oasis. Making farmers aware of the financial benefits of small ruminants may convince them to consider it as a better alternative to crop production in the study area in terms of income generation. This will probably influence their decision on the allocation of their limited resources to the competing alternatives.

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