Status of Sheep Production and Marketing in Solapur District of Maharashtra State

Maharashtra state has a population of around 2.7 million sheep, which is the 7th largest state-wise population in India. In Solapur district, Deccani and Madgyal sheep are considered to be important wool and meat purpose sheep breed. In view, the present study has been undertaken to estimate costs and returns , marketing channels and price spread and constraints in Sheep production and marketing in Solapur District. The multistage sampling design was adopted in selection of district, tehsils, villages and sheep rearers. The data about marketing were collected from five each of butchers, merchants and traders. The data were collected during the year 2020-21. The marketing channels observed were Channel I-Producer – Consumer, Channel II- Producer - Butcher – Consumer, Channel III -Producer - Village merchant – Consumer and Channel IV -Producer - Trader - Butcher – Consumer. Total marketing costs incurred by producer, butcher per sheep were collected for each of the 4 marketing channels.The major constraints faced were lack of grazing land (52.77 % ), veterinary services (51.38 % ), knowledge and training (48.61 %), credit facilities (43.05 % ), drainage facilities in sheep shed during rainy season (34.72 %), undeveloped pasture land (33.33 %), non availability of improved breeding of rams (30.55 %), high mortality rate of lamb (27.77 %) and high cost of concentrates (26.38 %).