1. Multi-faceted utility : meat, wool, skin, manure, and to some extent milk & transport … helps it to play an important role in agrarian economy
2. The production of wool, meat and manure provides three different sources of income per year
3. Since the two major products of sheep (wool and mutton) are entirely different in their production and utilization, the price of one may not necessarily have a bearing on the other. Wool may be stored and held for higher prices or sold at shearing time. A crop of lambs may be marketed from 5-6 months onwards (preferably before one year), bringing rather a quick return.
4. Mutton is one kind of meat towards which there is no prejudice by any community in India
5. In addition to wool, mutton and to some extent milk, sheep provide employment to about 3 million people in the form of self-employment, as hired labour for tending flocks during migration, and persons engaged in wool shearing and in wool and skin processing. Furthermore, sheep farming is a logical source of livelihood in arid zones where crop production is an uncertainty and thus it suitably fits into desert development programmes in vogue by protecting them from the vagaries of drought and famine.
6. Most suitable of the small ruminants to utilize the sparse vegetation in dryland areas through rangeland management and developed (reseeded) pasture
8. Better adapted to arid and semi-arid tropics with marginal and sub-marginal lands, otherwise unfit for crops, due to their superior water & feed (esp. protein) economy
9. Since sheep eat more different type of plants than any other kind of livestock, they can turn waste into profit and at the same time improve the appearance of many farms (i.e. excellent weed destroyer).
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