The status and characteristics of the goat (Capra hircus) and its potential role as a significant milk producer in the tropics: A Review

The FAO projected demand for milk for the year 2000 in the developing tropical world is estimated to be 242 million tons whereas the projected supply is estimated to be 177.6 million tons. In the 'developing' tropics where there are about 95% of the total goat population, this increased demand could be best made up from goat milk. Although there is the potential for improved milk production in the tropics from the dairy goat, information on breeds and breed societies for goats and, in particular, tropical dairy goats is lacking, and therefore represents an important area which needs to be addressed. This review covered dairy goats in the tropics; global goats' milk production; the characteristics of the dairy goat in the tropics (feeding behaviour, digestive efficiency, reproductive efficiency); milk production and the efficiency of milk production by goats in the tropics (temperate breeds in the tropics, tropical and sub-tropical breeds, efficiency of milk production in dairy goats); dairy goat adaptation to the tropics (physiological and anatomical, feeding behaviour, socio-economical and general). The conclusions were that the goat is well adapted to the tropics; has short generation intervals, high fertility, prolificacy and fecundity; high heritability for mill; production (0.5); superior digestive efficiency over dairy cattle when fed low quality forages (kg milk yield/100 kg DOM of 67.1 to 145; 86 to 101.5; 73.6 and 71.1 to 91.1 for goats, dairy cattle, dairy buffalo and sheep respectively); are more efficient milk producers under tropical conditions (kg milk yield/kg live weight of 2.8 to 7.1, 2.4 to 3.4, and 4.0 for goats, dairy cattle and dairy buffalo, respectively); goats' milk owing to its composition has a potentially greater role to play in future human nutrition and medicine than milk from cattle; and farmers would more readily setup or expand goat enterprises because of the lower capital investments required concurrent with lower risks. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.