An investigation of income and cost of traditional husbandry in arid and desert rangelands of Yazd province (Case study: Nodoshan Rangelands)

This study was conducted in the rural allotments of arid and desert rangelands of Nodoushan, Yazd. Nine ecologically similar allotments were selected in the area and one herd was selected in each of the allotments.The study livestock were Nodoushan pure goats with an average number of 230 goats in each herd. The objective of this study was to determine the income, cost and benefits of the Nodoushan goat. The results showed that the highest present expenditures were related to the manual feeding of livestock and shepherd wages. The highest income was related to livestock, milk and yogurt sales, respectively. In all nine allotments, the costs were higher than the incomes, leading to a negative net income in each of the allotments. Valuation using present net value based on 15,18 and 20 percent discount rates in 2015,2016 and 2017 showed that net present value and benefit-cost ratio were less than zero and one, respectively, in all the three years. Thus, traditional animal husbandry in the study areas is not economically profitable.