Goat farming involves the raising and breeding of domestic goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) as a branch of animal husbandry. People farm goats principally for their meat, milk, fibre and skins. Goat farming can be very suited to production alongside other livestock (such as sheep and cattle) on low-quality grazing land. Goats efficiently convert sub-quality grazing matter that is less desirable for other livestock into quality lean meat. Furthermore, goats can be farmed with a relatively small area of pasture and with limited resources

As with other herbivores, the number of animals that a goat farmer can raise and sustain is dependent on the quality of the pasture. However, since goats will eat vegetation that most other domesticated livestock decline, they will subsist even on very poor land. Therefore, goat herds remain an important asset in regions with sparse and low quality vegetation.

The skin of goats is a valuable by product of goat farming. Up until 1849 all Rolls of Parliament were written upon parchment usually made from goat skin.[12] Another populer use is for drum skins. Parchment is prepared by liming (in a solution of quick lime) to loosen the hair follicles. After several days in this bath, the hair can then be scraped off and the under surface of the skin scraped clean. After that the finished skins are sewn into a wooden frame to dry and shrink. Parchment is still available today, but imported skins can carry a small risk of harboring anthrax unless properly treated

enterprise on a commercial scale. pic1The emerging favourable market conditions and easy accessibility to improved goat technologies are also catching the attention of entrepreneurs. A number of commercial goat farms have been established in different regions of the country. An unemployed agricultural graduate Mr. Deepak Patidar resident of village-Sundrail, District-Dhar, Madhya Pradesh attended a Training Programme on Commercial Goat Farming organized by CIRG, Makhdoom for 10 days in the year 2000.

Being inspired and motivated by the scientists of CIRG he started a Goat Farm (Ekta Agronomic and Livestock) in his village in the year 2001. The farm was established with 60 local goats reared under stall-fed intensive system of management. Initially he faced a number of problems like high cost of production, mortality and low price of the produce. Under a project on Commercialization of Goat farming and Marketing of Goats in India , the scientist from CIRG visited his farm and suggested changes like breed (Sirohi), preparing pure breed animals as breeding stock and effective marketing strategy and strengthening linkages with the other farmers.