Managemental practices followed by the dairy farmers in Tamil Nadu state

Abstract

The study was conducted in 23 districts of Tamil Nadu state to find out the general management practices followed by dairy farmers on feeding, breeding, health care, production performance of the dairy animals, and also the constraints involved in dairy farming. The majority of the farmers had a medium herd size of 5- 8 animals with cross-bred Jersey cattle as the choice of dairy animal. The average daily milk yield of crossbred HF, cross-bred Jersey, and the non-descript cow was 11.83, 8.57, and 5.2 liters per day respectively. The average sale price of milk per liter was Rs. 31. 18 and it ranged from Rs. 22 to 50 depending upon the availability of marketing demand. The majority of dairy farmers (64%) fed green fodder 15- 20 kg/day/animal and the remaining farmers fed 20-30 kg per day per cattle. The majority of respondents (41.33%) fed 2.5-3.5 kg of concentrate feed per day followed by 33.33 % of farmers fed 1- 2kg of concentrate feed per day. The majority of the respondents (above 90 %) were aware and regularly following of vaccination and deworming practices. All of the farmers following the artificial insemination method to breed animals. The low cost for milk sale price, low milk yield, and high occurrence of reproductive disorders were the major constraints faced by the dairy farmers. The present study will help the policy developers to propose any modifications or improvements needed for the dairy farming production system in Tamil Nadu for the dairy farming community’s betterment.