Prospects and problems of indigenous sheep production in south-western coastal regions of Bangladesh

Abstract

Purpose: The study was conducted to observe the prospects and problems of sheep farming in south-western coastal regions of Bangladesh. Research Method: The study was based on survey data collection. An interview schedule was prepared to collect data from the sheep farmers keeping the objectives in mind. Data were collected from 90 sheep farmers who were chosen randomly from three different upazilas (sub-districts) covering 30 from each. The duration of data collection was from June to September, 2019. Findings: The socio-economic status of the sheep farmers was studied. The majority (61.1%) of the sheep farmers was middle aged group (31-50 years) and more than half (52.2%) of the sheep farmers were found illiterate. The average number of sheep per household was 6.5±3.69. The average age at puberty, age at first lambing, lambing interval, litter size, lactation length and gestation length of coastal sheep were 224.78±10.68 days, 388.39±13.13 days, 214.22±9.12 days, 2.84±0.73, 104.22±13.74 days and 149.44±5.27 days, respectively. Majority (94.44%) of the sheep farmers stated that their income was increased after adopting sheep farming and about 5.6% of the sheep farmers did not sell their sheep yet. More than half (56.7%) of the sheep farmers described sheep farming as high prospect and 43.3% cases it was described as moderate prospect. About 80% of the sheep farmers stated that their problem facing score ranged between 20 and 39 i.e., their problem facing intensity was moderately severe during sheep farming. Originality/ Value: The results of the study revealed that instead of few problems faced by the farmers, the prospects of sheep farming in south-western coastal region was high as it requires less space and investment and it also increased the income of the farmers.