ICAR-CIRG Launches Women-Led Model Goat Villages

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Wednesday, 8 July 2026

The ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Goats (ICAR-CIRG) has decided to set up four Model Goat Villages aimed at encouraging scientifically managed, women-led goat enterprises. The program is designed at strengthening the rural livelihoods, entrepreneurship and market access through research, innovation and collaboration.

The decision was taken during the National Workshop on Empowering Women-Led Goat Enterprises, which was a joint event of ICAR-CIRG and Passing Gifts, a subsidiary of Heifer International.

Held as a part of International Year of Women Farmers, the workshop was a gathering of more than 150 women farmers, researchers, policymakers, development organizations, industry representatives, and livestock experts from all over the country to deliberate on the increasing contribution of goat farming in women empowerment and sustainable rural development.

Key Highlights:

• Four Model Goat Villages have been identified by ICAR-CIRG to promote scientific development of goat business ventures run by women
• The project seeks to empower the rural community through research, innovation, and collaboration to enhance entrepreneurship and market linkages
• The goat rearing project is meant to boost the nutritional security status of the womenfolk

During the opening of the workshop, Dr. Abhijit Mitra, Vice Chancellor of DUVASU, highlighted the importance of the use of scientific methods in goat farming and asked for more concentration on goat businesses as a major means of rural development.

Dr. Manish Kumar Chetli, Director of ICAR-CIRG, talked about the fact that goat farming in India is a means of livelihood for almost 32 million rural households and the country has a goat population of 148 million which makes it the largest livestock sector in the country. He, revealing the four Model Goat Villages, mentioned that modern technology, better breeding, enhanced animal health, and more powerful market connections are the four elements necessary to make goat keeping a profitable and sustainable business. Adding to this, he stated that the goat sector is a major contributor to rural incomes, nutrition, and employment, especially for women and smallholder farmers.

The workshop highlighted the role of goat farming not only as a traditional habitat activity but as a significant business that helps women's financial independence, nutrition security and rural entrepreneurship. The discussion was based on the role of science, successful women entrepreneurs and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in goat sector.

Women farmers from the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and Haryana also shared their stories during the event. For example, Reena Devi from Bihar spoke about how training and institutional support helped her go from having only two goats to expanding her goat herd to 23 animals.

In a nutshell, the workshop made a promise to pool together efforts in research, innovation, capacity building and market development. They also talked about forming a National Coalition for the Goat Sector under the Herding Hope platform.