Economic Importance and Management Strategies for Alleviation of Milk Fat Depression in Dairy Animals: A Review

Abstract

Dairying is an important service sector in India, contributing 4.11 per cent to national GDP and provides secondary occupation to 69.00 per cent of the farming community. From the decades there is a major concern and research mainly focused on increasing the milk yields while milk fat per cent is largely being ignored. As a result, FSSAI had to decrease cow milk standards by 0.30 per cent from average 3.50 per cent milk fat to 3.20 per cent. Milk fat per cent is the important determinant of milk price both in unorganized and organized sector. Per unit (0.10 per cent) of decrease in milk fat per cent can incur a direct loss of 1.66 per cent to dairy farmer’s income. Milk fat depression is largely a nutrition related metabolic disorder and trans-10, cis-12 CLA isomer has been found to be chief culprit. It is a less attended metabolic disorder in India; which is causing huge losses to the dairy farmers. Not a single factor is responsible for it and generally due to lack of adequate nutritional and management knowledge, farmers are unable to identify and cure this multi factorial disorder. Milk fat depression can be influenced and managed by different factors like particle size of feed / fodder, feed processing, ionophores, dietary fatty acid intake, conditions that cause decrease in rumen pH and overcrowding etc.