Study on attitude and knowledge in animal husbandry practices among different tribes in Tripura, India

The study was conducted in Dhalai and Sepahijala district of Tripura, India, with a total of 120 sample populations randomly selected from four different tribal groups, i.e.Reang, Debbarma, Chakma and Jamatia, with equal proportions.With the pretested structured interview schedule, the data was collected and analyzed using tools like-frequency, percentage analysis, mean and standard deviation etc. to draw a specific conclusion.The study of the attitude and knowledge level of tribal farmers on animal husbandry practices is of utmost importance to know how they far depend on livestock-related farming and to know the awareness about new technology.Findings depicted that the majority of respondents were undecided about whether artificial insemination is a good practice in dairy farming, while less percentage disagreed and undecided about whether milch animals in a dry period can be neglected in feeding practices.So, regular training and exposure visits must be organized to encourage them and to develop a positive attitude towards dairy farming.Most respondents from the Debbarma tribe and all respondents from the Reang tribe were undecided about whether yearly drenching of crossbreed animals for internal parasites was a good practice.Whereas significant differences were observed among Reang, Jamatia and Debbarma tribes in case of knowledge on poultry farming.Compared to the other three tribes, the Debbarma tribe has greater knowledge of poultry farming.Significant difference was observed between estimates of Reang and Chakma.Considering the knowledge level of tribes in small animal farming, it was found that significant difference was observed between the estimates of Debbarma and Jamatia tribes with higher estimates for the Debbarma in the functional area of the study.Therefore, special attention must be given to Jamatia and Reang tribes for mainstreaming their better socio-economic development.