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Goat as the ideal climate-resilient animal model in tropical environment: revisiting advantages over other livestock species

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Abstract

In the agriculture sector, livestock are considered extremely resilient to climate change and are tipped to play a significant role in ensuring food security to meet the increased demands of growing human population by 2050. Compared to other domestic species, goats are considered the ideal animal model for climate change due to its high thermal and drought resilience, ability to survive on limited pastures, and high disease resistance. This review is therefore a revisit to the advantages of rearing goats over other livestock species under current and future trends of changes in climate, particularly to cope with recurrent multiple stressors such as heat load, and lack of water and feed. In summary, goats, also called as poor man’s cow, are preferred by the small-scale landless farmers due to their low input and assured higher output system, as they require low initial investment, with minimum specialized facilities and labors. Furthermore, they perceive goats as better resilient animal to cope with multiple stressors such as heat load, and water and feed scarcity, and possess better skills to cope with bush, when compared with sheep and cattle. The unique capacity for employing behavioral plasticity and morphological features of goats gives them clear advantage over sheep and cattle, when coping with seasonal biotopes, and experiences of water and feed shortage. When facing with low-quality feed, they also are superior to cattle and sheep to digest dry matter and to recycle nitrogen. Additionally, goats have superior ability to desiccate feces and concentrate urine, when compared with sheep and cattle. These advantages make goat the go-to species for efficiently countering the adversities associated with climate change and to optimize appropriate economic return through sustained production. Therefore, goats are tipped to be the future animals with extreme potential to counter the projected alarming climate change impacts and expected to play a significant role in ensuring food security to meet the demands of the growing human population by the end of this century.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Climate Resilient Animal Adaptation Studies, ICAR-National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Adugodi, Bangalore, 560030, India

    M. R. Reshma Nair, V. Sejian, M. V. Silpa, C. Devaraj, G. Krishnan, M. Bagath & R. Bhatta

  2. College of Climate Change and Environmental Science, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, Thrissur, Kerala, India

    M. R. Reshma Nair & P. O. Nameer

  3. Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Giessen, Germany

    M. V. Silpa

  4. Innovation Group of Thermal Comfort and Animal Welfare (INOBIO-MANERA), Animal Science Department, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Areia, 58 397 000, Brazil

    V. F. C. Fonsêca

  5. Brain Function Research Group, School of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Parktown, 2193, South Africa

    V. F. C. Fonsêca

  6. Innovation Group of Thermal Comfort and Animal Welfare (INOBIO-MANERA), Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias E Veterinárias, Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brazil

    C. C. de Melo Costa

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  1. M. R. Reshma Nair
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  2. V. Sejian
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Correspondence to V. Sejian.

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Future researchable priorities

Although goats have various advantages over other species to counter climate change impacts, it has always remained to be a neglected species. This could be because of lack of scientific information on most of the goat breeds. Research efforts are therefore needed to generate baseline information on most of the indigenous goat breeds. Generation of this scientific information may help to identify the ideal agro-ecological zone–specific breeds which could be propagated among the livestock farmers. Further, such efforts can also help to identify intervening points to improve the production of such breeds. Information on drought tolerance and disease resistance are currently lacking on most of the indigenous goat breeds and therefore research attempts are essential in establishing such information for future use. Breeding strategies offer a huge scope for realizing the inherent potential of goat breeds. The technological advancements in the field of molecular biology offer a huge scope in identifying potential biomarkers for climate resilience in goat. Such attempt either could be a way forward to identify more climate-resilient goat breeds or could be useful in modifying the existing breeding programs to develop more breeds with optimum productive potential. Both the projected growing human populations as well as adverse impacts of climate change are alarming; hence, it is very essential to invest in goat not only to ensure food security but also to help the small and marginal farmers in tropical regions to sustain their economy.

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Nair, M.R.R., Sejian, V., Silpa, M.V. et al. Goat as the ideal climate-resilient animal model in tropical environment: revisiting advantages over other livestock species. Int J Biometeorol 65, 2229–2240 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-021-02179-w

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