Sheep Marketing Practices and Their Influences on Farm Profitability: A Study in Hassan District, Karnataka, India

Abstract

This study was conducted in the Hassan district of Karnataka state to examine the sheep marketing practices adopted by farmers in this region and their implication for farm profitability. Sheep production is a significant livestock activity for commercial and smallholder farmers in India. The rapid increase in population, climate change, and other production constraints has directly led to the rise in demand and declining sheep numbers, leading to a shortage in supply in the local market. A stratified multistage random sampling method was adopted to select 150 sheep farmers from the study area. Data were gathered using a pre-tested structured interview schedule, and statistical analyses were conducted to interpret the findings. The study revealed that marketing was a major constraint faced by many sheep farmers. They chose mainly the village collectors (55.33 %), local market (40.67 %) relatives and friends (3.33 %) and other channels (10.67 %) as their main marketing channels. Need-based marketing channel was observed and 41.33 per cent of sheep farmers sold their stock to meet the financial requirement of domestic needs. About 24 per cent sold the surplus animals while, 19.33 per cent sold the animals to repay their loans and 9.33 per cent sold their stock, due to other reasons. The price fixation was determined by both market demand and body condition judgement of the animals (40.67 %). The choice of animals for sale belonged to the age group of 6- 12 months old (59.33 %) followed by <6 month and >12 month old. The farmers travelled to far off places to sell their animals and the marketing strategies adopted were fragile and unscientific. As such no specific marketing plans were noticed and it was majorly need-based and middleman dominated. The findings highlight the need for organized marketing interventions and capacity building to ensure fair pricing and sustainable sheep farming.