OFFER AND DEMAND OF GOAT’S MILK PRODUCTS IN PELAGONIA REGION R. MACEDONIA

Abstract

Goat breeding in the Republic of Macedonia is a sector of husbandry industry that has a good basis for improving the genetic capacity of livestock breeding, increasing the volume of production and creating opportunity for economic profit of the farmers. Considering the climatic conditions and the experiences of other countries, the Republic of Macedonia has capacity for adequate development of goat breeding by establishing smal to medium goat farms and application of intensive or semi-intensive goat farming systems. There are various breeds of goats in the Republic of Macedonia such as the Domestic Balcan Goat, Saanen and Alpina and cross-breeds between these breeds. The basic product that is obtained from goats is goat milk which is mostly processed into cheese, butter and yogurt. Subject of research in this paper is the supply and demand of products from goat’s milk in the Pelagonia region. The research includes data on supply of products from goat’s milk taken from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy of the Republic Macedonia and data on demand of the products obtained using a questionnaire on a representative sample of 200 respondents chosen at random. The largest percentage (70 %) of the respondents said that the market offers small quantities of products from goat milk. Therefore, it is nessery to take more measurements aiming the development of this industry in the future.