ADOPTION OF CLEAN MILK PRODUCTION PRACTICES BY THE DAIRY FARMERS

Abstract

Clean milk production does not mean making the milk free from extraneous matters like dust, dirt, flies etc. by passing it through sieve or muslin cloth. It actually means the raw milk that has been produced in the udder of healthy dairy animals, handled under hygienic conditions and contains only allowed quantity of bacteria and chemical residues. Clean ilk can be defined as milk coming from healthy milch animal, possessing normal flavor, devoid of dirt and filth, containing permissible limit of bacteria and essentially free from adulterants, pathogens, various toxins, abnormal residues, pollutants and metabolites (Ogale, 1999). The present investigation was carried out in North Gujarat. Three districts of North Gujarat viz., Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and Mehsana were purposively selected for the study. From each selected district, three talukas and two villages from each selected taluka were randomly selected for the study. Thus, eighteen villages were selected from the nine selected talukas. For selection of the respondents from the villages, a village wise list of dairy farmers was prepared based on farmers having two animals of which one animal in milking stage. From each village, ten dairy farmers were randomly selected as respondents. Thus, total 180 respondents were selected for the study. Majority (85.00 %) of the dairy farmers had medium to high extent of adoption of clean milk production practices.