Analysis of marketed surplus and disposal pattern of milk on commercial dairy farms in Maharashtra

Abstract

As the demand for milk and milk product is increasing rapidly, milk producers have been adopting dairy farming as a commercial enterprise to tap the market opportunities. The present study was aimed at the estimation of marketed surplus of milk and analyse its disposal pattern on commercial dairy farms of Maharashtra. Primary data collected from a sample of 40 commercial dairy farms drawn from two clusters of six villages each in two tehsils of Ahmednagar district were utilised for the study. The commercial farms were classified into small, medium and large categories based on herd size. The study revealed that the marketed surplus as percentage of milk production was 94.48, 94.81 and 96.96 percent for small, medium and large commercial farms, respectively. The contribution of small, medium and large category of farms to the total marketed surplus was 38.69, 20.68 and 40.63 percent, respectively. The commercial dairy farms in the study area had preference for organised agencies to dispose off their produce. Out of total quantity of milk marketed per day by the sample farms, 33.16 percent of marketed surplus was disposed to cooperative dairy, 55.65 percent to private dairy and the rest 11.19 percent was sold to the vendor.