Ranking of constraints faced by Kulli cattle rearers using garrett’s ranking method in Thanjavur district

Introduction

Agriculture is one of the major source of income for the rural sectors in India but risky professions with many uncertainties (Kumar. et al., 2021) [1] . Livestock is the key pillar, sub sector and integral part of agriculture in India. During natural calamities livestock sector supports for many farmers and landless labours and ensures their livelihood security. Since livestock rearing is one of the major sources of income for the farmers in India. Livestock sector contributes directly to the national growth from the rural poor. Growth rate in livestock sector is always keeping the same pace and without adequate investment. Among rural households, ownership of the livestock is more evenly distributed than land and other assets. (Abhay Kumar et al. 2012) [2] . The progress in the livestock sector resulted in balanced development of the rural economy particularly in reducing the poverty amongst the weaker section of the country as well providing better protein diet with minimal price. More over the rural women plays a significant role in Animal Husbandry and are directly involved in most of the routine operations relating to feeding, breeding, management and healthcare of the livestock which in turn supports and ensures better livelihood. Since ancient times, Indigenous cattle populations are diverse, and they have unique genetic features including the capacity to resist diseases, adapt to heat and drought, and feed on forages of poor nutritional value and low maintenance cost. (Prabex S et al. 2025) [3] The various indigenous breeds of agricultural animals are mostly the consequences of evolutionary processes. Due to haphazard breeding and the introduction of exotic germplasm through cross-breeding, many of the native germ plasm and local breeds are now vulnerable to rapid genetic dilution (Mursyidin et al., 2022). [4] Another reason for the decline in the number of indigenous cattle breeds is a drop in the extent of land holdings (Soumya et al., 2022) [5] . The number of indigenous cattle has decreased for a variety of reasons, including low productivity, short lactation periods and a lack of progeny tested bulls. Agriculture's mechanisation has made the things even worse. As cultivable land holdings are decreasing day by day the interest among the farmers in rearing of livestock's in rural areas for livelihood also getting decreased and as a result farmers are moving to urban cities for finding the job. To meet the necessity of better animal protein like ghee, cow milk and other protein rich milk by -products for future generations, intensive efforts are needed to safe guard and grow indigenous cattle for better conservation. When a breed's population is on the verge of extinction or is considered to be endangered, it must be preserved. One among the native cattle reared in Thanjavur district is Thanjavur kulli or a miniature type of cattle. (Kulli means short in local language) Since the adult Thanjavur kulli animal looks like a calf these cattle was called as kulli cattle and more numbers of animals can be well managed in a less space particularly by women. But in the recent past the total numbers of Thanjavur kulli cattle numbers are getting decreased and hence this study was undertaken to identify the problems faced by the farmers or Thanjavur kulli cattle owners in the field by garrett ranking method.

Materials and Methods

Study area:

This study was conducted in three districts and in each district two blocks were selected where the kulli cattle population is dense and farmer's reared these cattle generation after generation. Budalur and Orathanadu blocks in Thanjavur district, Thiruvermbur and Lalgudi blocks in Trichy districts, kandharvakottai and karambakudi blocks in pudukottai districts were selected. Since these cattle numbers are very minimal in numbers wherever the interested farmers rearing these cattle in groups were identified and one adult member of the household actively managing the animal was selected as respondents.

Data collection:

Semi-structured questionnaires were prepared and translated into local language. It was pre tested and adjusted based on respondent's feedback to ensure that it met our research goals and can be comprehensible for further analysis. From each district 15 to 20 numbers of cattle owners rearing Thanjavur kulli cattle were identified and a sub total of 50 animal owners were included in the study. In the survey schedule, five major risks associated with cattle rearing were included and 10 factors were included for ranking. All the 10 factors were ranked by the respondents in the range of 1 to 10 in which rank 1 indicates the most significant risk and rank 10 indicates the least significant risk faced by the animal rearers.

Garrett ranking method:

Garrett ranking method was used to identify the order of constraints faced by the farmers. Garrett ranking provides the change of orders of constraints into numerical scores. The constraints are arranged in order to its severity from the respondent's data. (Zalkuwi et al., 2015). [6] by calculating the respondent's data as a factor of the percentage position value using the following formula.

Percentage position = 100(𝑅𝑖𝑗 -0.5) /N𝑗 Where, 𝑅𝑖𝑗 = Rank has been given for the i th risk statement by the j th respondent. N𝑗 = Number of risk statements ranked by the j th respondent. The percentage position of each rank was converted to scores by referring to the Garrett ranking tables given by Garrett and Woodworth (1969) [7] . The total score was then calculated for each factor by adding the scores of each respondent. This total score was then divided by the total number of respondents whose scores were collected. The mean scores for all the constraints were arranged from high to low order according to the rank allotted.

Results and Discussion

Ranking of major constraints faced by the livestock keepers of Thanjavur kulli cattle

The constraints faced by the livestock keepers or farmers rearing thanjavur kulli cattle were identified from the research point by survey method and the numbers were given from 1 to 10 as F1 to F10 which indicates the major ten constraints identified in the field which was presented in Table 1. In the prepared survey schedule a total of five major categories of constraints or risks were identified and in each category two major constraints or factors were ranked by the farmers (respondent) in the range 1 to 10 by following the thumb rule that a unique rank was allotted to each risk. Rank 1 provides to most significant risk sources while rank 10 assigned to least significant risk source from all selected risk sources. Table 2 indicates the total respondents overall view about each factor for the ranks. A total of 10 factors were taken and analyzed for the severity, and we asked the respondent to give 1 st rank for the most constraint factor and asked to give 10 th rank for the least one. Table 3 provides the percent position for each factor which was calculated as per henry Garrett ranking conversion table.

Type of risk and risk statement

As per the table value the first one got 5 percent and the corresponding Garrett value was 82.

Formula for percent position = 100(Rji-0.5)/Nj

Where Rji = 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Ranks Nj = Total rank given by 100 respondents. As per Table 3, the first factor having 5 percent position, second factor having 15 percent position and so on upto tenth factor having 95 percent position. Table 4 indicates the garrett value calculation from the percent position.

Results and Discussions

Production and reproduction risk is always in the top constraint faced by the livestock keepers. Low milk production and less income return and non-availability of pure bred is the major constraints faced by the livestock keepers (Jayavarathan et al. 2012) [8] . Management practices like lack of space for rearing and capital to own land for rearing animals is the least priority after garrett ranking method. But it was given first priority by the farmers before ranking.

Conclusion

Cattle have long played a central role in agriculture, contributing significantly to livelihoods, culture, and food security worldwide (Kolekar et al. 2023) [9] . Despite their significance, modern farming threatens the major resources including non-exploitation of the potential of native cattle breeds, random crossbreeding with exotic breeds, urbanization and market shifts (Selvan et al. 2022) [10] . Youth's disinterest in crop-livestock agriculture and the inability to pass down animal keeper knowledge to the next generation leads to a loss of cultural identity and heritage when breeds go extinct (Li et al. 2024) [11] . Decreasing trend in the native cattle population necessitates documentation of farmers' preferences and to address the breeding practices at the household level. This knowledge is critical from the perspective of conservation and documentation of this native cattle as registered breed for development of new ideas which is highly essential for the food security of millions of farmers, and to formulate future research strategies on cattle breeding and conservation of elite native cattle breeds in the breeding tracts.

Acknowledgement

Acknowledgement:The author grateful to Tamilnadu Veterinary AndAnimal Sciences University (TANUVAS) for providing financial assistance to carry out the research work.

References

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