A typology of camel farming systems in Bikaner and Jaisalmer districts of Rajasthan, India

Abstract

One hundred ninety-six camel owners of Bikaner and Jaisalmer districts in Rajasthan were investigated in 23 villages connected by metalled roads from July to September 1997. Questions about camel management and utilization were asked. Discriminatory parameters and methods were identified while running multivariate analysis with SPAD 3® software. They were assigned to defined classes to carry out a typology of camel farming systems. Five classes related to camel owners’ activities and revenues were identified: 1) wealthy farmers (47%); 2) modest farmers (25%); 3) rearing activities predominating (19%); 4) very large families (6%); 5) poor landless breeders (3%). Four classes related to herd structure were defined: 1) medium-size camel herds (40%); 2) large herds of various species (28%); 3) single male camel herds (27%); 4) she-camel herds (5%). Six classes related to camel rearing objectives were revealed: 1) cart used for both business and farm (32%); 2) cart used for farm only (19%); 3) camel trade (19%); 4) ploughing and/or under-used camels (13%); 5) multipurpose camels (11%); 6) income from trade first and cart second (6%). Four classes related to nutritional management and health status were identified: 1) grazing around a village associated to stall feeding (39%); 2) stall feeding only (38%); 3) poor animal health status associated to migration (15%); 4) good health status associated to migration (8%). An overall typology was then defined from the previous four typologies. Nine classes were depicted, four of which represented 75% of camel owners and six were related to specific districts and/or areas.