Introduction

Gets constitute a very important species of livestock in India, mainly on account of their short
generation interval, higher rates of prolificacy, and the case with which the goats as well as their
products can be marketed. The gost population of India increased from 47.2 millions in 1951-52 to
1243 millions in 2003 which is 20 per cent of the total global livestock. Increase in goat numbers is
highest as compared to cattle, buffaloes, and sheep in our country.

Goats are the main meat animals in India, their meat is the most preferred and hence costliest of all
meats and represented almost 37 percent of total meat produced in the country. Almost 95 per cent
of the goat meat produced in the country is consumed locally. But the per capita availability is still
far below the requirement. There is an increasing demand for goat meat also for export. Obviously,
the scope for improving the export target for goat meat is considered excellent. The goat milk
constitutes 3.2 percent of all milk produced in India. However, goat milk is not well priced, and its
products do not have lucrative market.

The skins produced by Indian goats are considered of very high quality on account of their relatively
larger sizes, minimal blemishes, and perhaps high quality processing. The tropically produced goat
skins have some unique features that make them yield finest leathers such as velour, suede, and
chamois for clothing, shoes (glazed kids) and ladies gloves. The lightweight and fine texture appear
to be the important attributes of processed goat skins. India has the potential to become a dominant
player in the world leather industry. Goat contributes 88 million pieces of skin to total raw hides and

The enormous and diverse goat genetic resources of India are signified in the form of 20
documented breeds of goat (Acharya, 1982). These have been found by centuries of human and
natural selection. The rich biological heritage of these animals are fast getting eroded and trends in
the last few decades are alarming. There is a marked decline in the population of unique animals
conforming to the true attributes of native breeds. Widespread use of cross breeding, destruction of
traditional production systems and reduction of pastures placed this precious germ pool under
threat. It is only since last decade that concerted conservation efforts are really being made to
preserve the genetic diversity of goat in India. Importantly, it is necessary to determine which breeds
should be conserved (using objective criteria) because loss of variation will restrict the options
available to meet future unknown requirements.

Diverse attributes of a population are effective in its characterization. taking account of phenotypic
traits, reproduction, geographic distribution, origin and habitat. Although these breeds have been
classified as separate breeds on phenotypic traits, allelic diversity and genetic relationship are
unknown. Genetic characterization of populations or breeds allows the evaluation of genetic
variability, a fundamental element in working out breeding strategies and genetic conservation
plans. Microsatellites have been effectively exploited to elucidate caprine domestication and
diversity.
Amongst the native breeds, Beetal is one of the heaviest dairy type goat breeds, well known for milk
production and has largely been used in crossbreeding and other goat improvement programmes.
Beetal is a good dairy breed, second to Jamnapari in size but is superior to it as it is more prolific and
more easily adaptable to different agro-ecological conditions and to stall-feeding.

Diatribution

Beetal is found in Punjab along the Indo-Pakistani border. True-bred animals are however found in
the districts of Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Ferozepur in Punjab. It seems that the breed has been
named after its place of origin ie. Batala, a tehsil (sub-division) of the Gurdaspur (32N04 75E28)
district of Punjab. Pure animals are still found in and around Batala

PUNJAB

JAMMU & KASHMIR

PRADESH

RAJASTHAN

HARTANA

Breeding tract of Beetal goat in India

Population dynamics

Indian goat population is 124.3 million of which Punjab has 2.7 million goats (Livestock census,
2003), Goat population in Punjab is decreasing continuously and Beetal being native to this area has
suffered considerably. Total goat population in the Bectal distribution area, according to the 1972
livestock census was 0.159m. As per 1977 census it declined to 71,500. Survey carried out by the
National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR),

Kammal showed that both the number of flocks and the number of goats per flock have decreased.
There were a total of 20,772 Beetal goats in the breeding tract (Tantia et al. 2001). The Gurdaspur
district has 57% while remaining were in the Amritsar and Ferozpur districts. Kids, yearlings and
adult stock constituted 22, 21 and 56 percent, respectively. The adult male to female ratio was 16.3
which was lower than that reported by Acharya, 1982 (178) Only 2.8 percent of the households kept
goats in its breeding area. Five percent of the villages had more than 100, 46 percent had 11 to 50,
12 percent had 51-100, and 37 percent had less than 10 Beetal goats. There were about 30.5 Beetal
goats per village.
Climate

The weather in this region of India is seasonal with three well defined seasons in the Punjab. These
are

Hot Season (mid-April to the end of June)

Rainy Season (early July to the end of September) Cold Season (early December to the end of
February)

The transitional seasons are: Post-monsoon (September to end of November). It is transitional

between the rainy and cold seasons. Pre-hot season (March to mid-April). It is a transitional period
between the cold and hot seasons 2

The sub-tropical latitudinal and continental location of Punjab makes the variation of temperature
from month to month very high. Though the minimum air temperature rarely drops below 0°C,
ground frost is a common phenomenon in mid-winter. The highest day time temperature is recorded

Livestock composition

In the breeding area, buffaloes constitute about 71 percent, cattle 23.4 percent while goats
constitute only 5.6 percent of the total livestock. Among the goats, Beetal goat is preferred by the
goat keepers (62.8%).

Management practices

Almost all the flocks are stationary. The goats are taken out for browsing by the owners themselves
(96 percent). As there are no forest areas left, the goats are taken to roadside and canal
embarkments. The long ears are pruned to avoid injury. Farmers prefer to keep there own buck for
service while others do it on a payment basis.

Morphological characteristics
The body colour is generally black but some animals with white spots are also observed Very few
animals are brown in colour. The skin colour is predominantly grey. The hair is of medium length and
straight. Lips, eyes, hooves and tail switch are black. Eighty-five percent adult males and 93 percent
adult females are horned. The horns are either brown or grey in colour. The horns are twisted in 51
and 58 percent adult males and females, respectively Sixty-five percent adult males and 85 percent
adult females have horns turning backwards. The ears are long and hanging The forehead is convex
with a typical Roman nose.

Wattles are present in only 15 percent males. Teats are either funnel or

tube shaped. The teat tips are mostly pointed or rounded. The milkmedim se in 8 percent and small
in 21 percent the males. Most of the Beetal animals are docile. The average body length, height and
girth are as follows

Adult males

Adult females

3437

Sed sight

767