Thailand caters for rising demand for goat meat

BANGKOK, July 25 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, is promoting and supporting local livestock farms to raise more goats to meet the rising market demand of goat meat. Dr. Sorawit Thanito, Director-General of the ministry’s Department of Livestock Development, told journalists of the policy on July 24, saying that his department will, thus, organize a national goat fair, the 15th of its kind, at a livestock learning and confinement center in Petchaburi Province in the Upper Thai South during August 3-5, aimed to promote the more raising of goats at local livestock farms. Dr. Sorawit revealed that next month’s three-day fair is also aimed to disseminate information to local farmers and the general public on the rising market demand of goat meat, as well as to create and strengthen networks of local goat farms at all levels, while also promoting the more production of processed goat meat by local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the awareness on the development and conservation of goat varieties. According to the senior official, exhibitions and public forums on the technical development of livestocks, aimed at being a platform for stakeholders in the both public and the private sectors to share their knowledge, experiences and opinions, as well as sale of goat and sheep products and a contest of goats and sheep, with the winner to receive the trophy presented by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, will also be part of the upcoming three-day fair. Based on official statistics, nearly 653,000 goats were raised by more than 51,850 households in the Thai farm sector last year, most of which were in the southern region, followed by those in the central, northern, northeastern and eastern regions respectively. (TNA)