Smallholder Pig Farming for Rural Livelihoods and Food Security in North East India Haldar Avijit1,2,*, Das Dhrubojoyti3, Saha Biswarup4, Pal Prasenjit4, Das Sandwip1, Das Anup5, Rajkhowa Dipjyoti5, Hazarika S.5, Datta M.1 1ICAR Research Complex for North Eastern Hill Region, Tripura Centre, Agartala, Lembucherra, West Tripura, India 2ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute (ATARI), Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Bhumi Vihar Complex, Block-GB, Sector-III, Salt Lake, Kolkata, West Bengal, India 3Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Birchandramanu, P.O. Manpather, South Tripura, Tripura, India 4College of Fisheries, Central Agricultural University, Lembucherra, West Tripura, India 5ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region, Barapani, Umiam, Meghalaya, India *Corresponding author: A Haldar; Email: avijit_vet@rediffmail.com
Online published on 19 July, 2017. Abstract Smallholder pig farming is an important livelihood resource for the poor and tribal people in India. However, the smallholder pig farms are faced with a number of problems. The present study thus aimed to build up the capacity of the smallholder pig farmers by some interventions on knowledge build up, pig variety replacement, shelter management and veterinary services in Tripura, a State of North East India. Two-stage stratified random sample survey on 178 smallholder tribal farmers using pre designed, semi-structured questionnaires was conducted to collect information before and after the interventions. The majority of the beneficiaries (83.71%) belonged to either low or medium income groups, of which 14.04% of the beneficiaries were the poorest group in the present study. After the shelter management and adoption of improved husbandry practices, a good and very good conditions in and around the pig shelters were recorded among 71.34% and 24.16% of the beneficiaries, respectively. Non-descriptive, local pigs (50%) were replaced by high yielding indigenous or exotic or crossbred pigs in the study area. Previously, 86.51% of the farmers reared pigs for fattening purpose, while 92.13% of the farmers practiced breeding of sows for piglet production after the intervention. The present interventions have brought significant impact (p<0.05) on rearing factors as well as socio-psychological factors. The implementation of ‘piglet production farming system’ augmented food security by 148 days. Top Keywords Smallholder pig farms, shelter management, piglet production, food security, Tripura, north east India. Top |