impact of socio-economic changes on milk business in mehsana milk shed

i

IMPACT OF SOCIO ECONOMIC CHANGES ON

MILK BUSINESS IN THE MEHSANA MILK SHED

AREA

BY

ISHITA KOTAK (34072)

PARAG SOMANI (34034)

VIVEK YADAV (34164)

Development Internship Segment

PRM 34

FACULTY GUIDE: PROF. PARESH BHATT

JULY, 2014

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The acknowledgements are our humble way of expressing a deep sense of

gratitude to all those who helped us in successfully completing this extensive project.

We would like to thank Mehsana District Milk Producers‟ Co-operative Ltd. for

giving us the opportunity to work on their new project and facilitating us to complete it

successfully by providing us with access to all the organizational resources.

We express our heartfelt thanks to our Reporting Officer, Dr. Nitin Sancheti,

Executive Director, C-operative Services, Dudhsagar Dairy, for taking keen interest in

our internship as well as for providing valuable insights throughout the course of

internship. We would like to specially thank for ensuring a comfortable stay for us at the

dairy. We would also like to thank Dr. P.A Patel and Dr. Bhavsar, Veterinary

Department, Dudhsagar Dairy, for addressing all our queries throughout the internship

segment. Without their valuable insights and support our recommendations would not

have been so strong.

We would like to express our gratitude to all the zonal in-charges who ensured

utmost co-operation with us during the fieldwork to respective villages of each zone. We

would also like to thank the officials working at the Village Dairy Co-operative Societies

of the sample villages in order to extend support to us while doing fieldwork. Without

their support and resources, the data collection would not have been possible.

We would like to thank Prof. Paresh Bhatt for guiding us before, during as well as

after the completion of the internship segment. Without his valuable insights, our research

methodology would not have been strong. His insights also helped us doing appropriate

data collection and analysis.

Last, but not the least, we would like to thank Prof. Vanita Yadav, DIS Co-

ordinator and Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) for providing us with this

wonderful opportunity to have hands on experience with a developmental organization

during the Development Internship Segment (DIS).

iii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

I. Title Impact of Socio Economic Changes on Milk Business in Mehsana Milk

Shed Area

II. Organization Mehsana District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Ltd., Gujarat

III. Reporting Officer Dr. Nitin Sancheti

IV. Faculty Guide Prof. Paresh Bhatt

V. Participants’ Name Ishita Kotak (34072), Parag Somani (34036) and Vivek Yadav (34164)

Objectives: To study the social and economic factors affecting the milk production of a cattle owner

which in turn affect the procurement of Dudhsagar Dairy and to suggest ways in which the milk

procurement of the dairy could be increased.

Scope of the Study: The scope of the study is limited to those cattle owners who are members of

Dudhsagar dairy. The geographical scope of the project is limited to 36 villages surveyed as a part of

six zones identified under the Mehsana Milk Shed region.

Methodology: The research design for the study was exploratory. Both, primary and secondary

sources were used for data collection. Interview schedule was used to collect primary data. Personal

interviews were also conducted with the officials of village co-operative societies in order to get

better insights over the region specific issues and factors affecting milk procurement. Records of

sales, prices and other related data available from the organisation were used as tools for secondary

data collection.

Observations and Findings: Dairy farming is characterised by presence of a large base of small

and marginal farmers. Ownership of land and cattle showed negative correlation which threw light

over the fact that though, animal husbandry and agriculture were complimentary occupations for

farmers there was trade off taking place between both the occupations. Feed provided to the cattle is

mostly in the form of residual from crops. People indulge into dairying so as to ensure earning a

regular income to meet their household expenses. Dairying acted as a cushion against externalities.

People reared offspring to use them as milch animals, and treated them as asset to be sold off in

crisis. The major social factors affecting the milk production were status of education and caste or

community of the respondent. With increase in education, people are shifting to working in cities.

Major economic factors affecting the production were ownership of land, shortage of fodder,

shortage of labour and lack of access to formal credit.

Recommendations: Details about extension services available at the Union level was filtered out

before reaching to all the farmers leading to an information gap and a trust deficit. As such, it is

recommended to have a dedicated extension service department. Dairy farming equipments like

milking machine and chaff cutter have been made available, but aren‟t used. This is owing to the

fact that whether there‟s actual demand or not is ignored and technical assistance isn‟t provided. It is

recommended to have at least one person from each zone to look after the same. Milk production is

scattered over a large number of farmers, especially small and marginal. Further, access to formal

credit is very poor resulting in meagre revenue generation for small and marginal farmers. As such it

is recommended to motivate and facilitate the farmers to buy at least one more cattle by providing

credit. Fodder shortage is a concern for many villages and as such Azola cultivation can be

introduced to meet fodder requirement in a cost effective manner. Community fodder farms could be

established where land is available and farmers to be advised to take up silage preparation in

monsoon. Youth are the future and they are not willing to take up animal husbandry. They could be

encouraged by having camps for inducting them and taking them on visits to model farms. They

should be trained on using the farm equipments as they are more technologically savvy.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………….…ii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY………………………………………………………….iii

CHAPTER: 1…………………………………………………………………………1

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………1

1.1. Dairy industry in India.............................................................................................1

1.2. Milk Production And Procurement……………………………………………….1

1.3. Factor conditions affecting Milk Procurement in Mehsana……………………..2

1.3.1. Quality of animals……………………………………………………………………...2

1.3.2. Human capacity and technical skills…………………………………………………...3

1.3.3. Availability of Formal/Informal credit…………………………………………………3

1.3.4. Extension services-……………………………………………………………………..4

1.4. Mehsana District Milk Producers’ Co-operative Limited……………………….4

1.5. Milk cooperative structure………………………………………………………...4

1.6. Services provided by the Dudhsagar dairy……………………………………….5

1.7. Milk procurement trends…………………………………………………………..7

1.8. Objectives and Approach……………………………………………………….…8

1.8.1. Objectives of the study…………………………………………………………………8

1.8.2. Scope of the Study...........................................................................................................8

1.8.3. Limitations of the Study..................................................................................................9

CHAPTER:2……………………………………………………………………...…10

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………..10

2.1. Sources of Data Collection……………………………………………………..…10

2.1.1. Primary Sources:……………..……………………………………………………….10

2.2. Tools for Data Collection……………………………..…………………………..10

2.3. Sampling Plan……………………………………………………………………..11

2.3.1. Sampling Technique:………………………………………………………………….11

2.3.2. Sample Size…………………………………………………………………………...12

2.3.3. Sampling Frame……………………………………………………………………….12

2.3.4. Sampling Unit…………………………………………………………………………12

CHAPTER: 3………………………………………………………………………..13

SAMPLE PROFILE………………………………………………………………...13

3.1. Community Composition………………………………………………………....13

3.2. Education…………………………………………………………………………..13

3.3. Occupational Preference………………………………………………………….14

3.4. Cattle Composition………………………………………………………………..15

3.5. Composition of Cattle Owners…………………………………………………...16

3.6. Composition of Land Owners…………………………………………………….17

v

CHAPTER: 4………………………………………………………………………..18

DATA ANALYSIS………………………………………………………………….18

4.1. Milking and Livestock production

phases…………………………………………18

4.2. Herd Mix…………………………………………………………………………..19

4.3. Feeding Pattern……………………………………………………………………20

4.4. Fodder buying pattern……………………………………………………………21

4.5. Usage of land for fodder…………………………………………………………..22

4.6. Access To Medical Services………………………………………………………22

4.7. Preference Of Medical Services………………………………………………….23

4.8. Contribution To Milk Production………………………………………………..24

4.9. Community/Caste And VDCS Performance…………………………………….25

4.10. Community / Caste and Cattle Ownership……………………………………...27

4.11. Ranking Of Utility Of Dairying…………………………………………………..29

4.12. Innovative Measures……………………………………………………………...30

4.13. Method of Insemination…………………………………………………………..31

4.14. Perception / Attitude of farmers towards Dairy occupation…………………...32

CHAPTER 5………………………………………………………………………...37

RECOMMENDATIONS…………………………………………………………...37

5.1. Attracting Youth towards Dairy farming……………………………………….37

5.2. Creation of an extension service department……………………………………38

5.3. Provision of Technical Assistance..........................................................................39

5.4. Increasing the Outreach.........................................................................................40

5.5. Increasing the size of Herd.....................................................................................40

5.6. Increasing Prices of Milk / Subsidize Cattle Feed………………………………41

5.7. Introduction of Azolla cultivation as a substitute for cattle feed………………42

5.8. Development of Co-operative / Community Fodder Farms................................43

5.9. Encouraging farmers to undertake silage preparation-………………………..44

5.10. Provision of credit facilities………………………………………………………44

REFERENCES.............................................................................................................x

ANNEXURES..............................................................................................................xi

vi

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Survey Variables .................................................................................................................. 12

Table 2: Calving Interval .................................................................................................................... 18

Table 3: Age at 1st Calving ................................................................................................................ 18

Table 4: Feeding Pattern ..................................................................................................................... 20

Table 5: Contribution to Milk Production by Farmer Size................................................................. 24

Table 6: Crosstab between Community and VDCS Performance...................................................... 26

Table 7: Crosstab for Community and Cattle Ownership .................................................................. 28

Table 8: Relation between proactive behaviour and economic situation ........................................... 30

Table 9: Relation between choice of insemination method and economic situation ......................... 31

Table 10: Contribution to Milk Production based on Cattle Ownership ............................................ 40

Table 11: Comparison Biomass and Protein content of Azola........................................................... 43

vii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Milk Supply Channels........................................................................................................... 2

Figure 2: Milk Union Structure ............................................................................................................ 5

Figure 3: Sample Village Co-operative Societies .............................................................................. 11

Figure 4: Reasons for Increase in Milk Production ............................................................................ 36

Figure 5: Reasons for Decrease in Milk Production .......................................................................... 36

viii

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1: Milk Procurement Trend at Dudhsagar .................................................................................. 8

Chart 2: Community Composition of Respondents ........................................................................... 13

Chart 3: Education level of Respondents .......................................................................................... 14

Chart 4: Occupation Composition of Respondents ............................................................................ 14

Chart 5: Cattle Composition of Respondents ..................................................................................... 15



Chart 8: Herd Mix of Respondents ..................................................................................................... 19

Chart 9: Zone wise feeding patter ...................................................................................................... 20

Chart 10: Fodder buying pattern......................................................................................................... 21

Chart 11: Cattle Composition of Respondents ................................................................................... 22

Chart 12: Cattle Composition of Respondents ................................................................................... 23

Chart 13: Preference of Veterinary Services ...................................................................................... 24

Chart 14: Utility of Dairy Farming ..................................................................................................... 29

Chart 15: Perception / Attitude of farmers towards Dairy occupation ............................................... 32

Chart 16: Willingness to remain involved in Dairy Farming occupation .......................................... 33

Chart 17: Satisfaction Level ............................................................................................................... 34

Chart 18: Relative Preference of Occupation ..................................................................................... 35

1

Chapter: 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Dairy industry in India

India is the largest producer of dairy products and also the largest consumer. Dairy

has been an integral part of the country‟s economy. The dairy sector has grown steadily

from producing 17 million tonnes of milk in 1951 to producing more than 127 million

tonnes in 2012. Almost its entire produce is consumed in the domestic market and the

country is neither an importer nor an exporter, except in a marginal sense.

Despite being the number one country in milk production, the dairy sector is still

in the primitive stage of development and modernization. Also the dairy sector faces a

number of difficulties like shortage of fodder, poor quality of fodder, lack of veterinary

facilities etc. Though the cattle population of India is more than 200 million the average

output of an Indian cow is only one sixth to one seventh of its foreign counterparts.

Currently there is a mismatch between the demand side and the supply side because the

production of milk is not increasing at the rate that it should but the demand is constantly

increasing which may gradually turn the country into a substantial importer of milk.

Fortunately, the government and other stakeholders have realized this situation

and efforts to increase milk production have been intensified. Transformations in the

sector are being induced by factors like newfound interest on the part of the organized

sector, new markets, easy credit facilities, dairy friendly policies by the government, etc.

Dairy farming is now evolving from just an agrarian way of life to a professionally

managed industry – the Indian dairy industry. With these positive signals, there is hope

that the sector may eventually march towards another white revolution.

1.2. Milk Production And Procurement

Traditionally cooperatives were the dominant players in the formal dairy sector

but with the liberalization of the dairy industry, private investment has increased up to a

large extent. However, the share of the organized sector in milk procurement is very low

because a large proportion of milk and milk products are sold through the informal

channel. The unorganized sector absorbs about 70% of the milk sold while still only 30%

of the milk is sold through the organized sector.40% of the milk is used for household

consumption or on farm, and only 60% is sold. The supply of milk among various

channels can be seen in the figure below.

2

Figure 1: Milk Supply Channels

India has one of the largest numbers of illiterate people in the world. Although it

is claimed that the rate of literacy in the country is increasing, the reality may not be so,

given the fact that a number people who are treated as literates may not be so in the true

sense of the term. So, when it came to choosing a theme for the Village Fieldwork

Segment, determining the status of education in the host village was a topic that I found

interesting.

1.3. Factor conditions affecting Milk Procurement in Mehsana

The various factor conditions which affect the dairy business in the Mehsana milk

shed region include the quality of animals, the human capacity and the technical skills,

capital, credit, land availability, infrastructure and other inputs relevant to dairying. The

major factors have been discussed below.

1.3.1. Quality of animals

The quality of animals is critical in determining the productivity of the livestock and

hence overall production and procurement. The herd inventory of the Mehsana milk shed

area comprises mainly of buffaloes followed by cross bred cows, a major portion of

which is Holstein Friesian and indigenous breeds such as Kankrej. 89.62% of respondents

own buffaloes followed by 50 % of respondents having cross bred cows and 8.96 % of

dairy farmers own indigenous breeds.

MILK PRODUCTION

MILK PRODUCTION

HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION

(40%)

SURPLUS MILK SOLD (60%)

ORGANISED SECTOR (30%)

DAIRY COOPERATIVES

COOPERATIVESPRIVATE

INTERNATIONAL DAIRIES

PRIVATE NATIONAL

DAIRIES

GOVERNMENT DAIRIES

PRIVATE & GOVERNMENT PROCESSORS

DAIRY INDUSTRY

UNORGANISED SECTOR (70%)

MILK VENDORS

WHOLE SELLERS

3

The quality of animals is itself dependent on a number of factors such as the breeding

and productivity enhancement programs which have been undertaken by the Mehsana

milk union since 1985, the availability of quality fodder and feed and the availability and

cost of veterinary service.

The productivity enhancement program has been followed by the Mehsana milk union

in an integrated manner at the DCS level. Infertility camps at selected DCS are organized

where sizable infertile animals are present. Line data entry of each and every activity is

performed on an animal which includes Artificial Insemination (AI), Date of Pregnancy

Diagnosis (PD), Calving Date, Vaccination and de-worming.

Crop residues are the single largest source of fodder in the region. Lack of irrigation

water is a major constraint in the availability of fodder. Only 16 % of the land out of the

total land has been utilized for fodder production. Land use strategy needs to be

restructured to increase the overall proportion of cultivable land for fodder production.

The increasing prices of concentrate feeds are also a major cause for concern. Scarcity of

fodder resources is a major constraint in the development of the dairy sector unless

adequate measures are taken to increase its availability. There should also be a coherent

policy to regulate and ensure that no kind of substandard feed is available in the market.

Veterinary services are widely available in the form of veterinary doctors of the

Dudhsagar dairy as well as private doctors. The Dudhsagar dairy provides these services

at a very low cost. The availability of medicines for livestock is also not an issue.

Coverage of artificial Insemination is also good.

1.3.2. Human capacity and technical skills

Technical capacity of the dairy farmers of the region is low, knowledge and new

techniques though available are not accessible to the farmers. The support services like

good veterinary services, artificial insemination are widely and easily available in the

region. The organizational and the managerial capacity of the DCS are very good but the

entrepreneurial capacity of the farmers is hindered by the low capacity to take risks.

1.3.3. Availability of Formal/Informal credit

Lack of access to credit to expand the herd and to provide proper infrastructural

arrangements to the cattle by way of building pakka cattle sheds is a critical problem for

farmers. There is little access to formal credit through the dairy and only some DCS

provides loan for purchasing cattle to its members. Public sector lending is very low and

the commercial banks are not providing credit to landless, marginal and small livestock

farmers as they do not have considerable assets that they can use as collateral to

hypothecate or to mortgage. Informal credit is available from the agents of private

companies, but the interest rate is very high and also it is not necessary that these loans

4

are linked to the dairy activity. If the farmer takes credit facilities from the private dairies

he becomes a sort of „Bandhua majdoor‟ as then the farmer is tied to selling the milk to

that private dairy only. The cooperative credit structure is weak leading to the dependence

of dairy farmers on informal sources of credit.

1.3.4. Extension services-

Extension services in the region are lacking to a large extent. Farmers are not able to

take maximum advantage of various techniques and machines that are available to them

like milking machines, chaff cutters because they lack information on how to use them.

There is poor knowledge transfer and it should be removed so as to allow farmers to use

better practices related to feed, animal health and technical use of milking and other

equipments and increase their milk production.

1.4. Mehsana District Milk Producers’ Co-operative Limited

The seeds of Mehsana District Co-operative Milk Producers‟ Union Ltd. popularly

known as the Dudhsagar dairy sown in the year 1960 with the noble intention of ensuring

a fair return to the milk producers. In the fifties the private middle men and distributors of

milk, made all the profit while the farmers were left with almost nothing. Dudhsagar

formed as a response to this exploitation and put an end to it.

It is a district level apex body of milk cooperative societies in Mehsana which aims to

provide remunerative returns to milk producers and serve the interest of consumers by

providing quality and safe milk products which gives good value for money. The

intention was that the dairy would play an ever increasing role in the rural economy,

providing gainful employment to large numbers of producers in the district and to

increase producer‟s awareness so that they could manage their own affairs through co-

operatives. Slowly but steadily the dairy has grown to about 1300 milk cooperative

societies with 5.39 lakh producer members, having a turnover of 3406 crore in 2012-13.

1.5. Milk cooperative structure

The Mehsana milk union or Dudhsagar dairy follows the Amul pattern of milk

cooperative. This structure includes a three tier model, which comprises of the milk

producers and the village cooperative at the village level, the district dairy and the district

unions at the district level and the state marketing federation representing all dairies at the

state level. Milk procurement is done by the village societies which is then sent to the 5

chilling centers of Dudhsagar dairy and then sent to Dudhsagar dairy in Mehsana where

the milk is processed under the brand name Sagar and the surplus milk is processed and

packaged under the brand name Amul. Field staff of Dudhsagar dairy is responsible for

interacting with farmers and the village societies on various issues like resolving disputes,

improvement in milk collection, repair of equipments etc.

5

Figure 2: Milk Union Structure

1.6. Services provided by the Dudhsagar dairy

Dusdhsagar dairy provides a number of services and facilities to its members. The

major ones are described below-

Internal Consultant Development Program (ICD)

Training and Development program of Dudhsagar dairy is an ongoing

program since its inception as it believes the development of the institution lies in

the development of the Milk producer members. Under ICD program Dudhsagar

dairy organizes various training programmes based on the need.

Ration Balancing Program (RBP)

Animals fed with imbalanced ration invariably results in overfeeding or

underfeeding in terms of protein, energy and minerals resulting in milk production

lower than their genetic potential. Imbalanced feeding not only affects the milk

production but also increases the cost of production per litre of milk and disturbs

various physiological functions which are detrimental to the productive as well as

reproductive performance of animals in the long term. In view of this, it is

proposed that ration balancing advisory services in the district would help in

improving the productivity and reproductive efficiency by re-appropriating the

MILK PRODUCERS

Chilling Centres

Dudhsagar Dairy

GCMMF Warehouses

Whole sellers

Consumers

NETWORK

/SERVICES

1. Veterinary services

2. Animal camps

3. Cattle feed

4. Animal Husbandry

5. Milking machines

Village cooperative Societies with chilling units

Village cooperative Societies without chilling units

6

available feed resources and use of mineral mixture. This will also help in

bringing down the cost of milk production.

VMS

Specially trained consultants facilitate Village Dairy Cooperative Societies

(VDCS) in conducting their Vision Mission Strategy Workshops, preparing their

Mission Statements and Business Plans for the next five years. This process has

helped to involve and develop dairy farmers for their future planning and review

of the growth thereby improving their income and quality of life.

Milk Day

In this meeting, there is interaction of Dudhsagar Dairy officials with milk

producers to know their problems in open forum where all top officials are present

and give satisfactory solutions to the farmers. This program aims at bringing

together all members, including Chairman, Management Committee Members and

respective producer members of the Dairy Co-operative Societies to identify and

solve their problems. It provides opportunities to air the grievances of Milk

Producers.

Management Development Program

This program aims at capacity building of Secretaries of Dairy Co-

operative Societies in better management and maintenance of ISO standards. It

imparts training on management strategies, co-operative laws and their roles and

responsibilities. This one day program is very much helpful to understand the

structure and working of cooperatives.

Buffalo Show and Technical Exposure

It Aims to provide Modern know-how for dairy farming for increasing

milk production and hygienic handling of Milk by using modern, scientific and

upgraded technology including automation thereby reducing dependency on

labour.

Compound Cattle Feed

Cattle feed has important role in quality of milk, health, production and

reproduction of the Animals. Dudhsagar dairy is producing Purak Dan, Sagar

Daan, Hi-pro Daan, Pashu Poshak, Calf Starter and Medicated feed as per the

demand of the member milk producers. Cattle feed is supplied through village

DCS on no profit no loss basis.

7

Fertility Improvement Program (FIP):

Main Objective of this program is to improve fertility of the livestock by

Reducing Non Pregnant Dry and Not Even Calved Once population from Village

level so that the farmer can successfully and profitably carry out its dairy business.

Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP)

Strategic programs in an integrated manner at the DCS level and farmers‟

door step level are carried out so as to improve the productivity of dairy animals

so that the dairy animals can be exploited for full milk production. On line data

entry of each and every activity performed on an animal is done.

1.7. Milk procurement trends

Dudhsagar Dairy is currently procuring milk from Gujarat as well as from

Rajasthan and Haryana. It has increased its milk procurement from 2.20 Lakh Kg. in

1960-61 to 9252 Lakh Kg. in 2012-13 by increasing the number of Dairy cooperative

societies and the bulk milk chilling units.1As the demand of milk is increasing it has

increased its production capacity for manufacturing quality product for its consumers by

establishing two new processing plants at Kadi and Hansapur. The following graph shows

the milk procurement trend of Dudhsagar Dairy.

1 The growth in the number of DCS and Bulk milk chilling units is represented by graphs in the appendix.

8

Chart 1: Milk Procurement Trend at Dudhsagar

1.8. Objectives and Approach

Earlier Mehsana Milk Union (Dudsagar Dairy) was getting highest milk in all

cooperative unions in Gujarat. Its milk procurement is reducing due to various reasons

including socio-economic change. Therefore, the objective was to study the social and

economic factors affecting the milk production of a cattle owner which in turn affect the

procurement of Dudhsagar Dairy.

1.8.1. Objectives of the study

To identify and study the Social factors affecting milk production of a farmer

To identify and study the Economic factors affecting milk production of a farmer

To summarise the findings and make suggestions to increase the milk

procurement of Dudhsagar Dairy

1.8.2. Scope of the Study

Limited to the members of the Village Development Co-operative Societies

(VDCS) under Mehsana District Milk Producers‟ Co-operative Limited

Limited to six zones coming under the purview of Dudhsagar dairy

Limited to the 36 VDCS identified for the purpose of primary data collection

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1961-62 1970-71 1980-81 1990-91 2000-01 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13

1.1 46.5145.1

276.2400.2

615.5

816.1925.2

9

1.8.3. Limitations of the Study

Time Constraint: Owing to the length of the questionnaire and limited availability

of time for conducting the fieldwork, we were constrained from providing longer

time to each of the farmers.

Method of Sampling: Owing to the nature of the project as well as in order to

fulfil the organizational requirement, the method of selecting respondents was on

the basis of increase/decrease/stagnancy in their milk production. On account of

this, we could not select respondents from each of the VDCS in proportion to the

actual population size.

Community Composition: As mentioned above, the choice of respondents was

done on the basis of their milk production and not on the basis of community

composition of a village; as such the community composition reflected in data

analysis may vary from actual community composition in the region.

10

CHAPTER: 2

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research design adopted for the purpose of the study is primarily exploratory in

nature as it attempts to capture the local dynamics that frame factors affecting milk

production of a farmer. The study has however, used both qualitative as well as

quantitative methods for collecting data and is based on the data collected from primary

sources as well secondary sources. The data collection has been semi structured in nature

in order to provide scope for quality discussions with the identified stakeholders.

2.1. Sources of Data Collection

2.1.1. Primary Sources:

Data obtained from respondents on the basis of survey conducted

Data obtained from village co-operative societies on the basis of survey

conducted with the dairy officials

Data obtained on the basis of pilot survey conducted was used for

formation of interview schedule

Informal interactions with the village co-operative society officials as well

as households

2.1.2. Secondary Sources:

Records of Milk Procurement, Sale of Cattle feed, Price of various

products and other organizational resources available from the

organization were used to develop interview schedule as well to get

insights over current scenario of milk procurement for Mehsana Milk Shed

Area

Articles, journals and other literature available online were used to obtain

insights over the project at hand

2.2. Tools for Data Collection

Interview Schedule: On basis of the objectives, interview schedule was

prepared in order to obtain data from respondents

Personal Interviews: In order to have better insights over the local and

regional dynamics affecting each village, structured interviews were

conducted with the village co-operative society officials

11

Group Discussion: Group discussion was conducted with farmers and village

co-operative society officials in order to have better insights at factors

affecting milk procurement

2.3. Sampling Plan

2.3.1. Sampling Technique:

Multistage Stratified Purposive Sampling was used for the purpose of selecting villages

and respondents from the selected villages. As Mehsana milk shed area is divided into six

zones, these zones were selected as basis for selecting villages. The strata formed for the

purpose of selection of sample Village Co-operative Societies were:

Stage 1:

o Strata 1 High Performing VDCS: Those VDCS whose cumulative annual

growth rate has increased over last 5 years.

o Strata 2 Low Performing VDCS: Those VDCS whose cumulative annual

growth rate has decreased over last 5 years.

o Strata 3 Constant Performing VDCS: Those VDCS whose cumulative

annual growth rate has remained constant over last 5 years.

The rationale behind forming these strata was to have a holistic idea of comparative

performance of each of the VDCSs as well as to have an idea as to what are the factors

conducive to the high performing societies and what are the constraining factors behind

low performing societies. Figure 3 depicts the names of VDCS selected.

Figure 3: Sample Village Co-operative Societies

DudhsagarDairy

Hansapur

Aendla

Vayad

Sarava

Bhatasan

Koita

Kimbuva

Harij

Katara

Roda

Naranpura

Toranipura

Sankara

Brahmanvada

Kadi

Pally

Rajpur

Dudhai

Ambaliara

Kasva

Thol

Kheralu

Mumanvas

Sardarpura

Ganeshpura

Nava Delwada

Kheralu

Motipura

Mehsana

Jornang

Vadasma

Chitrodipura

Punasan

Mulsan

Kherva

Vihar

Delvada

Hirpura

Deriya

Anodiya

Bapupura

Gozariya

12

From Figure 3 it can be observed that first two rows comprise of the high

performing VDCSs, middle two rows comprise of the constant performing VDCSs and

bottom two rows comprise of the low performing VDCs.

Stage 2:

o Strata 1 High Performing respondents: Those respondents whose annual

milk production has increased in 2013-14 as compared to 2012-13.

o Strata 2 Low Performing respondents: Those respondents whose annual

milk production has decreased in 2013-14 as compared to 2012-13.

o Strata 3 Constant Performing respondents: Those respondents whose

annual milk production has been stagnant in 2013-14 as compared to 2012-13.

The rationale behind forming these strata was to have a comparative scenario of the socio

economical factors affecting the milk production of a famer within the same village.

2.3.2. Sample Size

6 VDCS were covered from six zones. Further, 6 respondents were selected from each

VDCS. Also, 1 semi structured interview was conducted in each VDCS. It is to be

noted that in case of 1 of the 36 VDCS, a focused group discussion was conducted

instead of conducting survey. As such, total sample size is 245 for the study. (6 Zones

* 6 VDCS * 6 Respondents = 216 + 35 VDCS Interviews = 251 - 6 Respondents of 1

village where FGD was conducted instead of survey = 245)

2.3.3. Sampling Frame

For the purpose of selection of VDCS, the list of VDCS coming under the purview of

Mehsana Milk Shade Area was considered as the sampling frame. For the purpose of

selecting respondents, the sampling frame was the list of members of VDCS.

2.3.4. Sampling Unit

Household was treated as a sampling unit for the purpose of data collection from

respondents.

2.4. Variables taken into Consideration

Table 1: Survey Variables

Social Factors Economic Factors

Age Occupation

Education Ownership of Livestock and Land

Community Infrastructural Arrangements

Family Size Access to Credit

Attitude Measurement through Likert Scale

13

Chapter: 3

SAMPLE PROFILE

3.1. Community Composition

Chart 2: Community Composition of Respondents

It is necessary to understand the Community Composition in the region because

based on Community their Occupation Preference and socio-economic conditions can be

known. Further, as would be reflected in data analysis, it can be said that the community

from which a person comes, indeed affects his economical situation which in turn affects

his milk production. Out of the total sample surveyed about 28% of population was of

Thakor Community, 20% of population was of Patel Community, 17% was of Rabari

Community. Others comprise of respondents from communities like Muslim, Brahmin

and Harijan.

3.2. Education

Education plays an important role in any business hence it was necessary to study

the level of education among dairy farmers in the region. Of the Sample Surveyed it was

found that majority of the population was Literate, people with education level up to 9th

grade were considered under this category. It was found that about 25% of the dairy

farmers had education till SSC. It was Observed that dairy farmers with High education

i.e. Graduate and above were involved in various other business apart from dairy farming.

Illiteracy or low education level was seen among Rabari and Thakor Community.

Thakor

28%

Patel

20%Rabari

17%

Chaudhary

15%

Darbar

6%

Prajapati

5%

Others

9%

14

Chart 3: Education level of Respondents

3.3. Occupational Preference

Chart 4: Occupation Composition of Respondents

In order to understand their primary and secondary occupations, as well as to see

if there exists a relationship between these, the respondents were asked to rate the above

mentioned occupations in order of the income generated from the same. It is essential to

0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

30.00

35.00

40.00

Illiterate Literate SSC HSC >=Graduate

16.04

38.21

25.47

12.26

8.02

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

Extent of Education

Preference 1 Preference 2 Preference 3

N.A

Service/Business

Manual Labour

Animal

Husbandry

Agriculture

15

understand the occupational preferences of farmers as what are his other source of income

and through which occupation is his major source of income.

From the Above Chart it can be seen that majority of the respondents gave

Agriculture as their 1st Preference which was followed by Animal Husbandry as a 2

nd

Preference. Here, an inference could be made regarding the complementary nature of

agriculture and animal husbandry as an occupation. People generally keep cattle in order

to use cow dung as manure for famers which are otherwise very expensive if it were to be

bought from the market. Further, animals required to be fed with fodder which is

provided by crop residue available through agriculture.

It can be seen from the chart that small section of respondents gave manual labour

a second preference as they had very less cattle and very marginal Land holding hence for

sustenance they were involved in such work.

3.4. Cattle Composition

Chart 5: Cattle Composition of Respondents

In the region farmers preferred buffaloes over cows as is reflected from Chart 5. It

can be seen that about 89% of the respondents have buffalos. The buffalos in the Mehsana

milk shed are of Mehsana breed.

The Milk through Buffalo is the important part for dairy business in this region. It

contributes a major share of total milk production because the buffalo adapt themselves to

harsh climatic conditions, require minimal care, are generally tolerant to infections and

can survive on low or poor feeding practices. Another reason why farmers prefer buffalos

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Cross Bred Cow Local Cow Buffalos

50

8.96

89.62

50

91.04

10.38

Type of Cattle

% of

Respondents

Not Having

% of

Respondents

Having

Bovine

Bovine

16

over cow is that buffalo milk has rich fat content. High amount of fat fetches them good

prices for their milk. Even if farmer has a herd of 15-20 cows he will still have two or

three buffaloes. The milk from buffalo is used for household consumption. Their milk has

a fat content of about 6 to 7 per cent and they can yield 8-10 litre of milk in a day.

Out of the total respondents about 50% of them reared crossbred cows and had

less than 10% of the farmers had Local cow. This indicates towards the awareness among

farmers towards practising artificial insemination in order to maintain breed purity so as

to attain higher yields. In case of local cows, Kankrej and Gir varieties were the most

prominent ones.

3.5. Composition of Cattle Owners


The farmers were categorized on the basis of number of cattle they owned. It is to

be noted here that, the grouping of cattle was done on the basis of interaction with the

veterinary doctors present at the organization so as to make it locally relevant.

It can be seen from Chart 6 that 80% of the respondents were either marginal or

small Farmers who owned less than 9 cattle. The Semi medium and medium farmers were

generally farmers who had Pakka cattle shed. Large farmers constituted only about 1% of

total respondents. Thus, here an inference could be made that the milk procurement of

Dudhsagar is scattered over a large proportion of small and marginal farmers who

practice animal husbandry for substance purposes. These farmers use milk for household

consumption and sold the surplus to the village dairy.

19%

61%

12%

7%

1%

Marginal- upto 2 cattles

Small- between 3 to 9

cattles

Semi Medium- between 10

to19 cattles

Medium- between 20 to 49

cattles

Large- Above 50 cattles

17

3.6. Composition of Land Owners


Farmers in the Mehsana region had marginal and small Land holding. About 73%

of total respondents had either small or marginal land holding. This indicates towards the

current situation of fragmentation of land observed in case of rural areas of India on

account of increasing number nuclear of families.

Marginal and small farmers used land for fodder cultivation to support animal

husbandry so that they do not have to buy fodder from market. The Medium and Large

Land holding farmers had Agriculture as their primary occupation. The major crops

cultivated are Wheat, Bajra, Jowar and other crops like Cotton and Castor in some areas.

Also the species crops i.e. Mustard which is grown abundantly in Visnagar and Unjha

talukas, whereas Jeera and Chilly are abundant in Mehsana taluka.

48%

25%

17%

9%

1%

Marginal- upto 5 bigha

Small- between 5.1 to 11

bigha

Semi Medium- between

11.1 to 24 bigha

Medium- between 24.1 to

60 bigha

Large- Above 60 bigha

18

Chapter: 4

DATA ANALYSIS

4.1. Milking and Livestock production phases

Normally cattle begin to produce milk only after calving but some heifers may be

milked early to reduce stress. Each period of production normally known as lactation lasts

for 12 to 15 months for cross bred cows, 14 to 16 months for indigenous cows and 15 to

18 months for buffaloes and covers the time period from calving to dry off, which is

when milking is terminated about 60 days before the next anticipated calving. Thus cattle

are bred while they are producing milk, usually beginning at about 60 days after calving

to maintain a yearly calving schedule. Following the 2 month dry period cattle calve

again and the lactation cycle starts afresh.

The difference between producing two calves is known as the calving interval. For

increase in milk production the calving interval for cross bred cows should be 13, for

indigenous cows should be 16 months and for buffaloes should be 15. As the calving

interval increase the production of milk decreases. In our sample survey the following

data was obtained about the calving period and age at 1st calving.

The following table is based on farmers‟ perspective as majority of farmers do not

keep any data regarding their cattle rearing.

Table 2: Calving Interval

Cattle Type Mean Median Range Ideal

Cross bred Cow 13.68 12 12-20 13

Indigenous Cow 14.4 13.5 12-28 16

Buffalo 17 15 12-18 15

Table 3: Age at 1st Calving

Cattle Type Mean Median Range Ideal

Cross bred Cow 30 30 24-48 28

Indigenous Cow 33 40 24-48 48

Buffalo 40 42 27-54 40

19

For ideal rearing of cattle and maximum milk production, an offspring born

should be fed mother‟s milk for 35 days and should be weaned from the mother and

reared in ideal conditions for 28 months in case of Crossbred cow, 48 months in case of

Indigenous cow and 40 months in case of buffalo after which it is ready for artificial

insemination.

And after 60 days of calf‟s birth, the cow should be conceived. In the meanwhile

milk should be collected for 300 days and in the next two months, no milking should be

done. Ideal feed including concentrate should be fed to the cow so as to develop the

health for delivering the calf and providing high quantity of milk.

4.2. Herd Mix

For producing optimum amount of milk from a livestock the yearly calving

schedule should be maintained in such a way that only 16-20 % of cattle are dry at any

point of time. An ideal herd includes include 80-84% lactating livestock and 16-20% dry

livestock or livestock close to calving. In our sample survey the following results were

obtained.

Chart 8: Herd Mix of Respondents

The above table shows that majority of farmers approximately 78% have the

opposite herd mix of what the ideal mix should be, and only 22 % had the ideal mix of

cattle, as a result the milk production of the farmers is decreasing leading to low

procurement of milk for a particular period which may affect his economical condition by

creating a temporary cash crunch during the time period when majority of cattle is dry.

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

80.00

40% &

Less

50% &

Less

60% &

Less

Less than

70%

Less than

80%

Ideal mix

% o

f R

esp

on

ents

Lactating Cattle

20

The veterinary department of the Dudhsagar dairy should make the dairy farmers aware

of this and how it is affecting their dairy business.

4.3. Feeding Pattern

Feeding is one of the most important factors affecting milk productivity of cattle.

Underfed or overfed cattle will not be able to attain optimal level of productivity. Further,

for the purpose of this study, feeding was considered as an economic factor affecting the

milk production. The rationale behind the same is that we wanted to see if better financial

situation leads to better feeding of cattle or not.

Table 4: Feeding Pattern

Feed Cow Buffalo

(in kg) Mean Mode Range Ideal

Range Mean Mode Range

Ideal

Range

Green

Fodder 16.7 20 5 - 50

20 -

25 19.3 20 3 - 60 20 -25

Dry

Fodder 13 10 2 - 40 5 - 8 15.2 10 2 - 50 5 - 8

Sagar

Daan 4.6 5 0 - 10 4 - 8 4.81 5 2 - 10 4 - 8

In Table 4, in green fodder, both, cow and buffalo are underfed. In case of dry fodder they

are overfed. Feeding of cattle feed concentrate is around the ideal range and this can be

attributed to the information services provided by the veterinary doctors on feeding.

Chart 9: Zone wise feeding patter

0 20 40 60 80 100

Harij

Hansapur

Kadi

Kheralu

Mehsana

Vihar

Hi Pro Daan Sagar Samruddhi Daan Makai Papdi Kapas Papdi Sagar Daan

21

As can be observed from Chart 9, the pattern of feeding varies from one zone to

another. It was observed that feeding pattern varied on the basis of economic situation of

a household. For e.g. a large cattle owner would provide sufficient quantity of cattle feed,

but a marginal would provide somewhere around 1-2 kgs per day. Further, provision of

green fodder was dependant on whether there is availability of irrigation water in the

region or not. Feeding was ideal in regions where there was water available from

Narmada Canal under Sujalam Sufalam scheme.

Another observation was that in regions where Sagar Daan consumption was low,

usage of cotton seed cakes was high as source cattle feed concentrate. On the basis of

informal talks with respondents it was observed that in small VDCS, the officials

recommend cotton seed cakes to respondents as they get higher commission over selling

cotton seed cakes instead of Sagar Daan. They stock the cakes in the VDCS storage areas

itself. This is a matter of serious concern and as such it is recommended that the union

probe this issue further.

4.4. Fodder buying pattern

Chart 10: Fodder buying pattern

As can be observed from Chart 10, majority of the respondents had to buy dry

fodder from the market. There are 2 reasons behind the same – Small landholdings and

lack of storage space. Further, it was observed that about 70% of the farmers who bought

fodder from the market were not satisfied with their margins from selling milk, whereas

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

50.0

Both Only Dry

Fodder

Only Green

Fodder

None

%of

Res

pon

den

ts

Type of Fodder

22

of those who did not buy fodder at all, around 60% of them were not satisfied with the

prices.

4.5. Usage of land for fodder

In our sample survey only 16.59 % of land out of the total land was found to be

being used for fodder cultivation. Though it is higher than the national average it is still

not conducive for dairy farming. This results in lack of fodder for livestock and as a result

the dairy farmers have to buy fodder from the market at a higher cost which results in a

non profitable occupation. Middle and large farmers have sufficient availability of land

but instead of growing fodder they go for cash crop cultivation like Potato, Tobacco and

some medicinal and aromatic crops like fennel and cumin.


4.6. Access To Medical Services

Access to veterinary services is an important factor affecting the well being of the

cattle which in turn affects its productivity. Dudhsagar Dairy has a well established

network of veterinary doctors to ensure well being of the cattle and this was reflected in

the study as well. Members can contact the village co-operative society and register

themselves for a veterinary visit as and when medical assistance is required. Emergency

medical services are also provided by the dairy, though they are priced higher than the

regular services. During our survey it was found that all the villages have access to

medical services. In most of the villages private doctors were also available.

16.59%

83.41%

Land used for fodder

cultivation

Land used for Crop

cultivation

23

Chart 12: Access to Medical Services

Chart 12 reflects the data with regards to the source from which respondents seek

medical assistance. It can be observed that over half of the respondents consulted both

private as well dairy doctors. When asked about the reason behind the same, they

responded saying that they generally consulted dairy doctors, but dairy doctors make

visits as per their route and as such in times of emergency they resort to contacting private

doctors. Thus, it can be concluded that private doctors are generally used as a backup

option in times of crisis. This is owing to the fact that the services of dairy doctors are

available at highly subsidised rate of Rs. 100/- visit as against that of private doctors who

charge as high as Rs.500/- to Rs.700/- per visit.

4.7. Preference Of Medical Services

After knowing the fact that medical services were available upon request in all the

villages, we asked the respondents as to whom do they prefer between the private doctor

and dairy doctor. The rationale behind asking this was to see if the respondents are

satisfied with the veterinary services as this is indeed an economical factor affecting milk

production.

From Chart 11, it can be observed that majority of respondents prefer dairy doctor

as compared to a private doctor. The reason behind the same is that the visits from the

former are available at a highly subsidised rate. Thus, it can be said that medical services

comprise of economic factor affecting the milk business. Further, when we asked the

respondents to name three services provided by Dudhsagar dairy which they found to be

beneficial, 100% of them mentioned veterinary services.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Dairy Doctor Private Doctor Both

44.8

1.9

53.3%

of

Res

pon

den

ts

24

Chart 13: Preference of Veterinary Services

4.8. Contribution To Milk Production

In order to ascertain the contribution of farmers to the total milk production, they

were grouped into different categories, namely - marginal, small, semi medium, medium

and large. The categorisation was done on the basis of number of cattle owned as well as

on the basis of amount of land owned. This was done so as to understand which type of

farmer contributes the maximum to the overall milk production so as to gain insight over

the category of farmer which has high potential to increase milk production. The rationale

behind using cattle ownership as well as land ownership as a basis for grouping farmers

was to see if there is a difference in trend portrayed by each of these groupings.

Table 5: Contribution to Milk Production by Farmer Size

Farmer

Category Base on Ownership of Cattle Based on Ownership of Land

Percentage

Estimated

Annual

Production

(in litres)

Percentage

Estimated

Annual

Production

(in litres)

Marginal 3.56 167887 44.46 2097467

Small 31.15 1469600 29.28 1381351

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Dairy Doctor Private Doctor

79.7

20.3

% o

f R

esp

on

den

ts

25

Semi Medium 18.84 888554 13.76 649216

Medium 29.22 1378227 10.86 512445

Large 17.23 812935 1.63 76725

Total 100 4717203 100 4717203

It can be observed from Table 1; about 60% of the contribution to milk production

comes from respondents who are small and medium sized cattle owners if we look at

grouping based on cattle ownership. But, when we group the farmers based on land

ownership, one can observe that marginal and small farmers contribute around 70% to the

total milk production. Further, one can also observe a decreasing trend in contribution to

milk production as the size of landholding keeps increasing.

During the interactions with the respondents it was observed that most of them

treated animal husbandry as an occupation complimentary to agriculture rather than as a

separate enterprise. But, on observing Table 1, it can be said that there exists a trade off

between animal husbandry and agriculture. As the land holding of person increases, the

number of cattle owned by him increases. This is owing to the fact that both the

occupations are input intensive and both compete for limited resources, namely - Labour

and Capital. As such there exists a situation of trade off leading to people choosing

agriculture over animal husbandry.

4.9. Community/Caste And VDCS Performance

Community/Caste of a respondent has been considered as one of the social factors

affecting milk production. As mentioned earlier, from each zone two village co-operative

societies were selected on the basis of change in their milk production over the years. An

effort was made to see if the performance of these village co-operatives could be

associated to the caste of the respondent. A crosstab was performed between both which

is as shown below.

From Table 2 it can be observed that there indeed exists a relation between

performance of a village co-operative and the community of the respondent. On the basis

of interactions with the respondent as well as with the officials, various qualitative data

pertaining to each of the community was gained. This qualitative data acts as an

explanation for the relation of each of the communities with the performance of the

village co-operative.

26

Table 6: Crosstab between Community and VDCS Performance

Type_Mandali

Total

High Constant Low

Community

Chaudhary

Count 11 4 16 31

% within

Community 35.5% 12.9% 51.6% 100.0%

Darbar

Count 7 6 0 13

% within

Community 53.8% 46.2% .0% 100.0%

Others

Count 3 9 7 19

% within

Community 15.8% 47.4% 36.8% 100.0%

Patel

Count 13 7 22 42

% within

Community 31.0% 16.7% 52.4% 100.0%

Prajapati

Count 8 1 2 11

% within

Community 72.7% 9.1% 18.2% 100.0%

Rabari

Count 22 10 5 37

% within

Community 59.5% 27.0% 13.5% 100.0%

Thakor

Count 9 37 13 59

% within

Community 15.3% 62.7% 22.0% 100.0%

Total

Count 73 74 65 212

% within

Community 34.4% 34.9% 30.7% 100.0%

It can be observed that within the Chaudhary and Patel community, majority of

respondents belong to those village co-operatives whose performance is declining over

the years. The rationale here is the increasing level of education among this community.

As the level of education within the community is rising, people are shifting to urban

27

areas in search of greener pastures. As a result the family members are shifting towards

substance farming. Also, with increase in reservation for the OBC category for

government jobs as well on account of vacancies in the public sector, the youth from

Chaudhary are leaving dairy farming. Whereas, in case of Patels, they own large amount

of land and as such are focusing more on agriculture as compared to dairy farming.

Darbar community is an influential and financially stable community. As such it

can be observed that they are a part of the growing co-operatives. Rabari community has

been traditionally associated with animal husbandry as a primary occupation and they

have continued this tradition even today. This is reflected from the table as majority of

respondents belonging to Rabari community are a part of growing village co-operatives.

Thakor community comprise of mainly marginal and small cattle owners. The

education within the community as well as their landholding is very low. As such, dairy

farming is a very important occupation for them. Owing to its poor socio economic

condition, majority of them belong to those co-operatives which have indicated a constant

trend. The reason that could be attributed to this phenomenon is that Thakors do not have

large capital base and as such have not been able to grow their milk business, but

nonetheless, dairy farming forming a major source of livelihood for them, they have

sustained their level of production over the years.

4.10. Community / Caste and Cattle Ownership

Community was one of the social factors considered as a part of the study. An

effort was made to see if there exists a relationship between the community to which a

respondent belongs and his cattle ownership. On the basis of the data obtained, it can

indeed be said that there does exits such a relationship.

As can be observed from Table 7, Chaudhary community belong to the Marginal

and Small cattle owners‟ category. The reason behind the same was found to be

increasing level of education among the members of this community. Further, owing to

increase in reservation for OBC category, the youth of Chaudhary community is shifting

towards pursuing higher education to get government jobs. Though, earlier Chaudhary

community used to be among the top milk producers, now their contribution is decreasing

on account of availability of better opportunities.

Earlier, Patel community also used to be one of the top milk producers. But, on

account of larger landholding and better financial condition, they have shifted their focus

on agriculture rather than animal husbandry. Also, they are shifting towards residing in

urban cities and as such majority of them are in small and marginal category. But in some

villages, reverse migration was also being observed and as such Patel community can also

be seen as occupying major chunks of semi medium and medium cattle holdings.

28

In case of Rabari community, they have been traditionally associated with animal

husbandry and as such they can be observed in case of Semi – medium and medium

category. Thakor community is a financially backward community and as such they form

a part of the small and marginal category. It is recommended to facilitate increasing herd

size in this community so as to help them achieve economies as well as to boost milk

production.

Table 7: Crosstab for Community and Cattle Ownership

Community

/ Caste

Grouping based on Cattle Ownership

Marginal Small Semi

Medium Medium Large

Chaudhary Count 4 22 3 1 1

% within Community 12.90% 71.00% 9.70% 3.20% 3.20%

% within

Cattle_Grouping 10.00% 17.10% 11.50% 7.10% 33.30%

Darbar Count 5 6 1 0 1


% within

Cattle_Grouping 12.50% 4.70% 3.80% 0.00% 33.30%

Others Count 7 8 2 2 0


% within

Cattle_Grouping 17.50% 6.20% 7.70% 14.30% 0.00%

Patel Count 10 19 7 5 1


% within

Cattle_Grouping 25.00% 14.70% 26.90% 35.70% 33.30%

Thakor Count 8 48 3 0 0


% within

Cattle_Grouping 20.00% 37.20% 11.50% 0.00% 0.00%

Prajapati Count 1 6 3 1 0

29


% within

Cattle_Grouping 2.50% 4.70% 11.50% 7.10% 0.00%

Rabari Count 5 20 7 5 0


% within

Cattle_Grouping 12.50% 15.50% 26.90% 35.70% 0.00%

Total % within

Community 18.90% 60.80% 12.30% 6.60% 1.40%

4.11. Ranking Of Utility Of Dairying

In order to increase the milk procurement, it is very important to know the utility

of dairy farming as an occupation in the minds of the farmers. This would help in

identifying the need of the respondent. In order to gauge that, the respondents were asked

to rank the following reasons as to why they are associated with dairy farming, in terms

of its utility to them:

Using livestock as a means to generate regular income by selling milk

Using livestock so as to meet the household consumption requirement of milk

Using livestock in order to use cow dung as farm manure

Using livestock in order to be able to sell livestock/offspring and generate income

Chart 14: Utility of Dairy Farming

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Preference 1 Preference 2 Preference 3 Preference 4

Selling Cattle

Farm Manure

Household

Consumption

Income from

Selling Milk

30

From Chart 14, it can be observed that over 60% of the respondents have given

their first preference to using livestock as means to generate regular income from selling

milk. It was followed by household consumption as a second preference and using cow

dung as farm manure as third preference. In this context, on the basis of qualitative

findings from the fieldwork it could be said that different people have different needs, and

in order to meet these different needs, people indulge into dairy farming.

It can be understood that people primarily indulge into dairy farming as a

complimentary activity to agriculture so as to have a regular source of income to meet

their household expenses. Further, people with marginal cattle holding were primarily

concerned with meeting the demand for household consumption of milk and would sell

whatever surplus remains. People with large land holding, would have small cattle size so

as to meet the manure requirements for their farms as it is very expensive to purchase

manure from market. People generally used the offspring to rear them as milch animals,

but treated these as assets to be sold in times of financial crunch. Thus, it can be

understood that dairying is an occupation that people indulge into to primarily meet their

liquidity requirements.

4.12. Innovative Measures

Innovation is an important factor affecting the milk production of a farmer. As a

part of the study, it was important to see if innovative behaviour is affected by

economical situation of a farmer. But, it was difficult for the farmers to quantify their

actual financial situation. As such, type of cattle shed was used an indicator to gauge the

economical wellbeing of a farmer. In the context of this study, innovative measures relate

to measures like using fans, fountains, musical systems and similar other measures in

order to improve the wellbeing of the farmers.

Table 8: Relation between proactive behaviour and economic situation

Type of Shed Count No Yes Total

Kaccha % within Cattle

Shed 95.9 4.1 100

% of Total 55.2 2.4 57.5

Pakka % within Cattle

Shed 70 30 100

% of Total 29.7 12.7 42.5

Total % of Total 84.9 15.1 100

31

From Table 2, it can observed that around 57% of the respondents owned kaccha

cattle sheds and the rest owned pakka cattle sheds. It was observed that of those who

owned kaccha cattle sheds; only 4% took innovative measures. Whereas, in case of pakka

cattle shed owners, 30% of them took innovative measures. Hence, it can be concluded

that there lies a relation between financial well being of a farmer and his proactive

behaviour.

4.13. Method of Insemination

One of the ways to improve milk production is to ensure the maintenance of

genetic purity of cattle breed. To achieve this, Dudhsagar has trained local youth as

Artificial Insemination personnel to cater to insemination needs in their respective

villages. Majority of the villages have been covered by the dairy. Despite this, many

farmers still use natural insemination for their cattle. So, we wanted to see if the

economic situation of a farmer has a relation with his choice of insemination method. The

rationale behind studying the same was to see of better economic situation leads to a

better informed farmer and thus to gauge whether this aspect has any impact on

productivity or not.

Table 9: Relation between choice of insemination method and economic

situation

Type of Shed Count Artificial Natural Both Total

Kaccha % within

Cattle Shed 61.5 26.2 12.3 100

% of Total 35.4 15.1 7.1 57.5

Pakka % within

Cattle Shed 77.8 7.8 14.4 100

% of Total 33 3.3 6.1 42.5

Total % of Total 68.4 18.4 13.2 100

It can be observed from Table 9 that a higher proportion of Pakka shed owners go

for artificial insemination as compared to Kaccha shed owners. About 26% of Kaccha

shed owners go for natural insemination whereas only about 8% of Pakka shed owners go

for natural insemination.

As such, it can be said that there does exist a relationship between economic well

being of a farmer and steps taken by him to ensure well being of his cattle.

32

4.14. Perception / Attitude of farmers towards Dairy occupation

To understand the economic condition of dairy farmer, it was important to

understand their perspective of dairy business. Hence Farmers perception was taken as

how do they the find the dairy Occupation whether it is profitable or not. It was found that

farmers did find the occupation profitable which can be seen from above chart. Those

farmers who had did not find occupation profitable where generally Landless farmers and

had to buy fodder from market.

Chart 15: Perception / Attitude of farmers towards Dairy occupation

To understand the social aspect it was necessary to capture farmer view on how it

finds the occupation respectable or not. For other occupation individual has to generally

wait for a month or 3-4 months in case of Agricultural crop but dairy occupation provides

them cash. Hence they find it as Respectable business. The Top ten milk pourers of the

DCS are awarded prizes and their names are printed on their respective DCS booklet.

Hence Majority of the dairy farmers find it as respectable occupation but youth today is

least interested in dairy business and prefers other occupation over it as animal husbandry

requires lot of physical labor work and prefers to do other business and does not considers

it as respectable occupation.

The dairy farmers in the region want to expand their dairy business as they find it

profitable and respectable. Most of the farmers wanted to expand their dairy business by

either buying new cattle or building pakka cattle shed or taking new innovative measure.

Therefore availability of credit facility is essential criteria for expansion of dairy business

and farmer recognize it hence they have majority of the respondents agreed that credit

plays an important role in dairy business and they like to take credit facility if provided at

low interest rate.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Profitable

Occupation

Respectable

Occupation

Expansion Plan Importance of

Credit

% Agree % Undecided/Indifferent %Disagree

33

4.15. Willingness to remain involved in Dairy Farming occupation

To understand the future prospect of dairy business in the region, Farmers where

asked whether they want to involve their children in this business and about more than

50% of the respondents said they did not wanted their children to do such type of work as

it affects their social status. In Chaudhary community it was seen that parents did not

want their daughter to marry a person whose occupation is Animal husbandry. Hence they

preferred that their children to either take up some business or service jobs so that it does

not affect their social status and they do not face marriage difficulties for their children.

Chart 16: Willingness to remain involved in Dairy Farming occupation

It can be seen that even children did not wanted to take up dairy as occupation. He

preferred to take up any occupation in nearby cities of Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad or

Mehsana. The Youth preferred to take up government job as lot of vacancies are available

and hence went for higher studies. When asked about how they see the future potential of

Dairy business the response received was on a mixed one. Some said the future is bright

if better price are given for milk while some said that due to costly cattle feed, fodder and

unavailability of labor made dairy business unattractive as profit is very less.

4.16. Satisfaction Level

The dairy farmers in the region were highly satisfied with the working of the

Village level DCS. The DCS provided timely payment to farmers and cattle feed was

available at DCS which helped farmers to purchase feed from DCS and not from market.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Prosperity Want to Involve

Children

Children want

Join

Future Potential


34

Although it can be seen that around 50% of respondents were satisfied with

services provided by Dudhsagar dairy but the major concern over here is farmers were

unaware of most of the services provided by Dudhsagar, they could only recall Artificial

Insemination and Veterinary service scheme as service available. The farmers in the

region were highly dissatisfied with the fat per kg prices given presently. The

dissatisfaction with fat prices was on account of reasons like better prices provided by

neighboring unions and increase in fat prices not in proportion with the increase in input

costs.

Chart 17: Satisfaction Level

4.17. Relative Preference of Occupation

To understand how farmer perceived dairying as an occupation they were asked

whether Dairy was as good as Agriculture, It can be seen from the above chart that

farmers were of the opinion that dairy occupation was in fact much better than

Agriculture because it provided them income in short period of time in addition to that

cattle could be sold if, financial problem exists. Dairy Occupation also provided milk for

household consumption, Manure for agriculture. Farmer also sold their cattle offspring as

a source of income.

To gauge farmer‟s interest in dairy business it was asked whether service/business

is as better as dairy. We received a mix response; some farmer preferred dairy occupation

as they believed that service did not provided them income in short period and dairy was

more profitable than other business. Whereas some farmer said that service/business was

fixed hour job and they could take holiday whenever required while in dairy business it is

a 24 hour labor work where they could not take a day off and had to miss social function.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Satisfied with

Mandali

Satisfied with

Dudhsagar

Satisfied with Fat

Prices


35

Chart 18: Relative Preference of Occupation

To know whether if farmer wanted to take change occupation to service/business

if they got an opportunity, the response received from farmer with age less than 45 years

was that they would like to opt for service/business because they find that dairy business

is not as attractive and were unhappy with price received for fat per kg and believed that

service job gave them better social status. On other hand farmer above age of 45 years did

not wanted to change their occupation and were satisfied with dairy business. They said

this occupation was passed to them by their fathers and would like to continue till they

were capable of doing it.

4.18. Reasons for Increase in Milk Production

To understand the qualitative aspect of increase in milk production, the farmers

were asked about what were the factors behind their increase in milk production over the

last three years. The farmers believed that proper feeding and care of cattle affected their

milk production and the cattle gave more milk. Adding Livestock was the major reason

for increase in milk production, Good Veterinary Service provided by Dudhsagar dairy

ensured that their cattle were in good health condition. Farmers did not need to go market

for buying Sagardaan as it was easily available at village DCS. Farmers gave about 4-5 kg

of Sagardaan everyday which provided required nutrient and showed an increase in milk

quantity. Figure 4 represents the word cloud generated on the basis of the responses

received. It is to be noted, the size of each reason indicates the frequency of reputation of

that reason as a response.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Agriculture = Dairy Service = Dairy If Service


36

Figure 4: Reasons for Increase in Milk Production

4.19. Reasons for Decrease in Milk Production

To understand the qualitative aspect of decrease in milk production, the farmers

were asked about what were the reasons behind their decrease in milk production over the

last three years. Most of the farmers said they sold out their cattle due to various reasons

such as costly feed and fodder due to shortage of water. Farmers also reduced the quantity

of sagardaan given to cattle and bought less bags due to increasing prices of sagardaan

over the last two years. There was Shortage of labor in the region as people here preferred

to work in industrial area (GIDC) in Kadi taluka. Migration to cities has also led decrease

in milk production as youth today is looking for job opportunities in cities farmer sell out

their cattle as there is no one to look after them.

Figure 5: Reasons for Decrease in Milk Production

37

Chapter 5

RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1. Attracting Youth towards Dairy farming

On using the Likert Scale for measuring the attitude of respondents towards dairy

farming as an occupation, 66% of the respondents indicated unwillingness to involve their

children in dairy farming. Further, 80% of the respondents said that their children are not

willing to join animal husbandry as an occupation. This can be treated as one of the most

important factors affecting milk business in the Mehsana milk shed area.

On probing the matter as to why are parents not willing to involve their children

and why is youth not ready to be involved, it was realized that the major reason is amount

of hard work that needs to be put in case of pursing animal husbandry. It was seen that

youth do not want to get their hands dirty by picking up cow dung; neither did they agree

to look after animals. Further, dairy farming was not viewed as occupation positively

affecting the status of people. But, nonetheless, the youth was found to be very

enterprising and willing to take risk by starting business in urban areas.

Thus, it can be inferred that youth is moving away from this occupation and it is

also the youth who is the future of this business. So, it is a necessity to keep them

motivated to remain in dairy farming. Following are the suggested ways to attract youth:

Providing demo on using dairy farming equipments like milking machine and

chaff cutter. Youth in the region are technologically more adapt as compared to

their parents who are averse to using technologies. So if milking machines and

chaff cutters could be targeted at youth to show them how they could generate

high income using less labour.

Organizing camps to attract youth. The camps could help in inducting youth in

dairy farming. Young farmers whose milk production is high could be identified

from different villages and they could address the youth and show them the

benefits of dairy farming as well as help them realize how remunerative this

profession could be if practised properly. This would also create the imagery of

dairy farming as an occupation associated with status and aspirations.

Visits to model farms could be organized not only for the farmer, but for parents

and children together. This would help the youth visualise how successful he can

be if he takes up dairy farming on large scale.

38

5.2. Creation of an extension service department

To increase procurement of the milk the production of milk has to be increased

and this can only be done by educating farmers of what all services they can avail,

increasing their technical competence, proper transfer of technology. Dudhsagar dairy

does not have an extension department, the extension work is carried out mostly by the

veterinary departments and thus, the level of extension services is low in the Mehsana

milk shed area.

There should be a separate department of extension with an effective extension

plan catering to the needs of the dairy farmers. This is important because the extension

services of the Dudhsagar dairy is suffering from a lot of problems mainly lack of clarity,

lack of coordination, lack of participatory approach and lack of human resources. Even

though lot of information is available and disseminated from the union on a regular basis,

most of it gets filtered out before reaching the bottom of the pyramid.

Thus, it is recommended to establish a dedicated extension service department

instead of relying over the network of veterinary services. The extension service

department could serve the dairy farmers in the following ways:

It would help the farmers to identify their productivity and production related

constraints through awareness of various technologies, exposure to different

techniques, exchange of information among farmers, extension officers of the

dairy and the state department, Krishi Vigyan Kendra‟s and other stakeholders.

It would help the dairy farmers to make best use of the technologies and support

services through capacity building.

It would help in establishing linkages with information sources on dairy

innovations, new technologies, and market related information such as the prices

that they are being paid by the Dudhsagar dairy etc.

It would help in building capacities, skills and technical capacities of farmers to

empower them to adopt good and innovative practices for improving production

of milk while reducing various risks.

It would help in motivating farmers to form self help groups particularly the

females to carry out the dairy business in a medium to large scale profitably and

also motivating youth to join dairying as an occupation.

Also the Dudhsagar dairy should identify educated youth from each large village

and from a cluster of small villages and train them to carry out the extension services in

their respective villages by appropriately incentivizing them which would motivate them

to carry out their work with honesty and integrity.

39

5.3. Provision of Technical Assistance

Various subsidies on farming equipments are available for farmers from

Dudhsagar Dairy as well as central government. These subsidies help farmers in

purchasing farming equipments like milking machine, chaff cutter, sulo, fountains and the

likes. During fieldwork it was observed that these equipments were available only with a

small proportion of the farmers. These farmers were generally the rich ones who had

knowledge of the subsidies available on equipments or belonged to influential

communities. Further, it was observed that majority of those who had these equipments,

did not use them. On being probed, it was known that there were various myths present

among the farmers with regards towards usage of these equipments, like – 100% milk

cannot be extracted using a milking machine. Also, one of the prominent reasons behind

people not using the equipments is that there were operational and maintenance issues.

Farmers found it difficult to obtain spare parts for these equipments locally as well as

they did not know how to operate them.

Another issue that was observed was that the union did not oversee the issue of

these equipments and indulged pushing these equipments in maximum number. In the

process, it overlooked the fact that whether actual demand or need for the product exists

in the village or not. For e.g. in regions where there is labour availability, people employ

labour for milking as well other chores as they are comparatively more economical and as

such equipments would not be preferred.

Thus, from the above, following inferences could be made:

There is lack of awareness with regards to various subsidies available

The accessibility of these subsidies is limited to rich and influential farmers

There is lack of knowhow on usage of the equipments

Lack of technical assistance on usage and maintenance of the equipments

Pushing the equipments in the market rather than providing the same on the basis

of existence of actual demand and need basement on the basis of local dynamics

On the basis of considering above mentioned inferences, it is recommended that

the union initiate providing technical assistance to the farmers to solve their issues as well

as to ensure better adaptation of these equipments. Dudhsagar presently does not have a

technical assistance department and as such it is highly recommended for it to set up a

separate technical department for dissemination of technological knowhow and

equipments among farmers and also to keep a track over usage these. Currently

Dudhsagar is dependent on veterinary network for dissemination of this information;

instead, it is recommended that all the zonal offices must have at least one technician to

handle the technical areas. These measures would definitely lead to a better informed

farmer which in turn helps in boosting the cattle productivity.

40

5.4. Increasing the Outreach

Dudhsagar dairy has various programmes like Internal Consultant Development

Program (ICD), Internal Consultant Development Program (ICD), Buffalo Show and

Technical Exposure, Fertility Improvement Program (FIP), Productivity Enhancement

Program (PEP) and Compound Cattle Feed programme. These programmes are highly

effective in nature as well are directly related to the productivity enhancement among

cattle. But the outreach of these programmes is limited to few hundred villages. The

union has the human capacity involved in the implementation of programmes as well as

necessary infrastructure and resources. As such, it is highly recommended to increase the

outreach of these programmes to all the VDCS so as to attain a dual advantage of

leveraging the existing infrastructure as well as of giving boost to cattle productivity.

The outreach could be expanded by:

Covering all the cattle‟s under the tagging scheme for cattle identification so as to

ensure better implementation of support services

Identifying one village youth from each village and training him in the role of

local resource person to carry out the Ration Balancing Programme in all the

villages so as to ensure efficient utilization of the limited fodder resources

available as well as provision of balanced nutrition to cattle which would in turn

directly enhance their productivity

Increasing the outreach of programmes like Fertility Improvement and

Productivity Enhancement to cover all the villages so as to maintain genetic purity

of the breed as well as to shorten the calving intervals so as to give boost to

productivity and milk production

5.5. Increasing the size of Herd

On the basis of the data available from fieldwork, it was observed that around

80% of the respondents belong to the small and marginal cattle owner category

comprising of those having less than or equal to 9 cattle.

Table 10: Contribution to Milk Production based on Cattle Ownership

Type of Farmer

by Cattle Ownership Percentage

Estimated Annual

Production

(in litres)

Marginal (0 - 2 cattle) 3.56 167887

Small (3 - 9 cattle) 31.15 1469600

Semi Medium (10 - 24 cattle) 18.84 888554

41

Medium (25 - 50 cattle) 29.22 1378227

Large (> 50 cattle) 17.23 812935

Total 100 4717203

From Figure 10, it can be observed that 80% of the farmers contribute only 34%

to the overall milk production. This indicates towards the fact that the milk production in

the Mehsana milk shed area is distributed over a large number of small and marginal

farmers. Though this factor seems to be a weakness, it is also an opportunity. This large

base of small and marginal farmers provide a huge potential to increase the milk

production, if, they are motivated and facilitated to add at least one more cattle to their

existing herd.

During the fieldwork, 90% of the respondents responded that they want to expand

their business of dairy farming. Thus, it can be inferred that there exists a willingness on

part of the farmers to expand their business and as such it would be possible to motivate

them to purchase additional cattle.

It is highly recommended that marginal and small cattle owners be focused upon

for the purpose of increasing herd size. This would have a dual advantage - one, the

marginal change in the milk production by adding one more animal to their herd would be

much higher than that achieved by adding one more cattle to the herd of a medium or

large cattle owner.

5.6. Increasing Prices of Milk / Subsidize Cattle Feed

Price of milk is the most important economic factor affecting the milk production

of a farmer. Currently, Dudhsagar dairy offers Rs. 520/- per kg of fat for milk whereas,

the neighboring unions like Banas, Sabar and Amul are providing Rs.550/- per kg of fat.

Farmers are aware of these details and as such there is high level of dissonance among

them towards the union. During the fieldwork it was very apparent that there was anger

and resentment widely spread among all the farmers.

Further, in last two years the prices of cattle feed have been increased from Rs.600

to Rs.1000. Such a drastic increase in the prices of cattle feed has further created a

negative impact on the livelihoods of farmer. They believe that the prices for milk have

not increased in proportion with the increase in input costs.

Provision of relatively low prices per kg of fat and charging relatively higher

prices for cattle feed have hit hard the livelihoods of the farmer. Dudhsagar currently is in

42

expanding their milk production units and as such the investments in the same have

slashed off the margins available farmers. Further, owing to the political instability that

Dudhsagar has been going through in recent years has widened the gap between the

unions and the members resulting in a trust deficit.

Social side of the issue is the trust deficit between Dudhsagar and members and

the economical side of the issue is that people have started selling off their cattle. The

reasons sighted are insufficient prices for selling milk as against increasing prices of

fodder, labor and inflation in general. These factors have rendered the occupation of

dairying as non-remunerative for the farmers. As a result, they are now shifting towards

subsistence farming to fulfill their household consumption requirement.

Thus, it is strongly recommended that Dudhsagar increase the prices of milk to

make them at par with those provided by neighboring unions or subsidize the prices of

cattle feed. This would surely help in eradicating the widespread negativity among

farmers and boss them to stay in the occupation.

5.7. Introduction of Azola cultivation as a substitute for cattle feed

Due to unavailability of fodder because of lack of irrigation water, land for fodder

production and increasing prices of cattle feed the cost of milk production increases

considerably and as a result many dairy farmers leave this occupation. To combat this

Dudhsagar dairy can motivate dairy farmers to cultivate Azola as a substitute for

concentrate feed.

Azola is very rich in proteins, essential amino acids, vitamins such as vitamin A,

vitamin B12 and Beta- Carotene, growth promoters and minerals like calcium,

phosphorous, potassium, ferrous, copper and magnesium.

On dry weight basis it contains 25-35% protein, 10-15% minerals, 7-10% amino

acids and bioactive substances. The carbohydrate and fat content of Azola is very low and

the nutrient composition makes it a highly efficient and effective feed for livestock‟s.

Livestock‟s can easily digest it owing to its high protein content and low lignin content.

Also it‟s very easy and economic to grow.

A trial of Azola cultivation has been done in the states of Tamilnadu and Kerela

by the National Resources Development Project (NARDEP), Vivekananda Kendra, and it

has been found that Azola can perfectly substitute concentrate feed.

Comparison of biomass and protein content of Azola with different other fodder

species (tones/hectare)

43

Table 11: Comparison Biomass and Protein content of Azola

Fodder species Annual Biomass

production

Dry matter

content Protein content

Napier grass 250 50 4

Sorghum 40 3.2 0.6

Azola 730 56 20

Azola cultivation requires very less capital investment. It can be cultivated in an

area of 4×4 m2

which is sufficient to provide nutrient supplement to 2 cattle per day. It

mainly requires cow dung, super phosphate and water for its cultivation, since there is

unavailability of water, waste water from the cattle shed as well as waste water after

household consumption such as water left after washing clothes can be used perfectly for

its cultivation. It requires 25-30 ᴼC temperature for its cultivation so can be grown under

shade also. Information for Azola cultivation can be provided by KVK to the farmers

with the help of dairy.

5.8. Development of Co-operative / Community Fodder Farms

Availability of fodder is a major economical factor that has direct semblance to

the productivity of cattle. Further, on the basis of data analysis it was observed that only

16% of total land is being used for fodder cultivation. Thus, the problem here is twofold –

Unavailability of fodder for the landless leading to increase in input cost, in turn

affecting the economies of cattle owners, especially small and marginal ones

Usage of land for cultivation of cash crops rather than focusing on animal

husbandry.

Keeping in mind the above mentioned issues, it is recommended to develop

community fodder farms in order to support landless or marginal farmers meet their

fodder requirement. Alternatively, support could be provided to convert community

wastelands into community fodder farms so as to meet the fodder requirements of the

region. Further, it is suggested to enable fodder transfer from fodder surplus regions to

fodder deficit ones in regions with paucity of water like Kheralu.

As earlier discussed, with increase in ownership of land, ownership of cattle

among farmers is decreasing. Thus, the farmers with medium to large holding should be

encouraged to expand their herd size and take advantage of land by using it for fodder

cultivation. This would lead to substantial increase in the milk production of Mehsana

milk shed area.

44

5.9. Encouraging farmers to undertake silage preparation-

In the Mehsana milk shed area due to less availability of water for irrigation

(rainfall is the main source of irrigation) and less land for fodder production as majority

of the dairy farmers are landless, marginal and small availability of green fodder is an

issue. As a result the cattle‟s are underfed which results in low production of milk. To

reduce this farmer‟s can be encouraged to take up silage preparation to conserve the green

fodder which they cultivate whenever water is available and store them for the later use

whenever deficiency of green fodder occurs.

Silage is fermented, high moisture stored fodder which can be fed to the livestock

as well as can be stored as feedstock. It is fermented and stored by a process known as

silaging and is usually prepared from green fodder crops like maize, sorghum, rajko, rakja

bajri etc.

Silage making offers the following advantage-

Silage can be prepared at any time of the year. Thus it can supply green fodder

when rest of the sources is not available.

Green fodder can be preserved in the succulent stage for any length of time

and it also preserves 85-90% of the feed value of the fodder crops.

It is a highly palatable feed and a better source of fodder than dry fodder.

5.10. Provision of credit facilities

Lack of access to credit facility is a major bottleneck for developing the

occupation of dairying. More than 80 % of the respondents covered in the sample wants

to increase their dairy business but are unable to do so because of lack of disposable

income and no provision of credit facilities. For this Dudhsagar dairy can-

Create a separate pool of funds every year to be utilized for providing credit

facilities to the dairy farmers.

Motivate the Cooperative societies in the villages to use their funds for providing

credit facilities to the dairy farmers instead of keeping the funds in the banks as

fixed deposits.

Motivate the farmers to utilise their kisan credit card facilities for animal

husbandry also as both agriculture and animal husbandry are complementary.

Assist the dairy farmers in getting loans under various NABARD schemes by

providing technical assistance to them in terms of filling forms, getting documents

verified etc.

x

REFERENCES

1. Parth Shah, WH, UPen(2011) “Analyzing the effectiveness of a Dairy Cooperative/

The cost of Milk Production”, Social Impact Research Experience Journal (SIRE).Jan

2011

2. Dr. Narayan G. hedge, Dairy extension for transfer of technology

3. S. Premlata et al(2005), Azola- a sustainable feed for livestock, Leisa magazine 21.3,

September 2005 accessed from <

http://www.agriculturesnetwork.org/magazines/global/small-animals-in-focus/azolla-

livestock-feed>

http://www.agriculturesnetwork.org/magazines/global/small-animals-in-focus/azolla-livestock-feed

http://www.agriculturesnetwork.org/magazines/global/small-animals-in-focus/azolla-livestock-feed

xi

Annexure: 1. Map of Gujarat with Mehsana location

Annexure: 2. List of sampled villages-

DudhsagarDairy

Hansapur

Aendla

Vayad

Sarava

Bhatasan

Koita

Kimbuva

Harij

Katara

Roda

Naranpura

Toranipura

Sankara

Brahmanvada

Kadi

Pally

Rajpur

Dudhai

Ambaliara

Kasva

Thol

Kheralu

Mumanvas

Sardarpura

Ganeshpura

Nava Delwada

Kheralu

Motipura

Mehsana

Jornang

Vadasma

Chitrodipura

Punasan

Mulsan

Kherva

Vihar

Delvada

Hirpura

Deriya

Anodiya

Bapupura

Gozariya

xii

Annexure: 3. List of Dairy Cooperative Societies sampled for primary data

collection

Sr. No. Society

Code

Dairy Cooperative Society Annual Milk Procurement

(in liters)

1 579 Aendla 3137421

2 1740 Pragati mahila delvada 3287577

3 425 Vayad 2889836

4 116 Hirpura 2803989

5 904 Jornag 1730123

6 881 Vadasma 1318612

7 814 Rajpur 1376458

8 385 Sardarpura 1401770

9 331 Mumanvas 1328008

10 1017 Pally 663116

11 603 Katara Samal 1381818

12 479 Roda 1169406

13 126 Deriya 313859

14 1141 Toranipura 102535

15 415 Bhatasan 495818

16 96 Anodiya 142395

17 666 Sarava 206907

18 1531 Naranpura 57835

19 1391 Chitrodipura 184142

20 1404 Ganeshpura 104624

21 1385 Nava Delvada 527080

22 1323 Dudhai 183405

23 851 Ambaliara 162684

24 886 Punasan 833029

25 612 Sankara 392585

26 19 Motipura 743605

27 817 Kasva 416283

28 558 Kimbua 385043

29 566 Koita 577723

30 897 Kherva 1745138

31 850 Thol 452592

32 896 Mulsan 528708

33 646 Brahmanvada 1132493

34 57 Bapupura 5653861

35 431 Kheralu 3935446

36 17 Gozaria 1966881

xiii

Annexure: 4. Product mix of Dudhsagar Dairy

Sr. No. Products manufactured

1 Amul Gold

2 Amul Shakti

3 Amul Butter

4 Amul Ghee

5 Sagar Ghee

6 Amul Cow Ghee

7 Amul Mithai Mate

8 Sagar Skimmed Milk powder

9 Amulya

10 Amul Spray

11 Amul Moti

12 Sagar Moti

13 Sagar Sfurti

14 Sagar Chash

15 Amul Kool Kesar

16 Amul Kool Rose

17 Amul Kool Badam

18 Amul Kool Elaichi

19 Frozen Yoghurt

20 Masti Dahi

21 Amul Lite

22 Amul Icecreams

Annexure: 5. Growth In the number of Dairy Cooperative Socities over the

years-

xiv

Annexure: 6. Growth in the number of Bulk milk chilling units over the years-

Annexure: 7. English Questionnaire

1. Name

2. Mandli Name 3. Village

4. Taluka 5. Age

6. What is your highest education level?

Literate

Up to SSC

Up to HSC

Graduation and above

Illiterate

7. Rank the following occupations on the basis of the income generated from the same.

Agriculture

Dairying

Service

Manual Labour

Others, please specify ________________________________________________

8. What is the highest education of any member of your family?

Literate

Up to SSC

Up to HSC

Graduation and above

Illiterate

0

200

400

600

800

2008 - 09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13

97210

387557 637

Bulk Milk Chilling Unit

xv

9. What is the occupation of the highest educated member in your family?

Agriculture

Dairying

Service

Manual Labour

Others, please specify________________________________________________

10. How many members are there in your family?

Adult Males Adult Females

Boys Girls

11. How many people in your family are involved in agriculture / animal husbandry?

_____________________________________________________________________

12. Livestock Information:

Type of Animal Total Milch Animals Lactating Animals Daily production (in

litres)

Cross Bred Cow

Indigenous Cow

Buffalo

13. How many litres of milk is used daily for household consumption?

_____________________________________

14. What is the calving interval for your animal?

Cow: ____________________________________

Buffalo: ______________________________________

15. What is the age of your calf / heifer at first calving?

Calf ___________________________________________

Heifer ________________________________________

16. How many acres of land do you own?

17. _____________________________________________________________________

xvi

18. Do you use your land for growing fodder? If yes, how much?

None

Up to 1 Acre

1-2 Acre

> 2 Acre

19. Do you buy fodder from the market?

Only green fodder

Only dry fodder

Both

None

20. How much fodder do you feed your cattle per day?

Type of Animal Green Fodder Dry Fodder

Cow

Buffalo

21. What type of fodder do you give to your cattle?

Maize

Jowar

Bajra

Rajko

Rajka Bajri

Napier Grass

Other, please specify ________________________________________________

22. Which cattle feed do you use?

Sagar Daan

Hi-pro Daan

Sagar Samruddhi Daan

Home made

Other feed available in market, please specify ____________________________

Do not use

23. If yes, how many kilograms do you give per day / per animal?

Cow _______________________Buffalo_______________________

24. Which other cattle feed do you provide apart from Sagar Daan?

Cotton cake

Maize cake

xvii

Wheat

Bajra

Maize Bharado

Maize Gluten

Other, ____________________________________________________________

25. Do you take advantage of R.B.P? What are its benefits?

Yes

No

Cattle shed

26. What type of cattle shed do you have?

Kaccha

Pakka

27. What are the arrangements for availability of water?

Available at specific time

Available 24 hrs

28. Have you taken any innovative measures with regards to your cattle shed that have led

to better well being of your cattle?

________________________________________________________________________

Animal arrangement and management

29. Who takes care of the cattle?

Labour

Family Members

Both

30. How do you milk your cattle?

By Hand

By Machine

31. Do you own a chaff cutter?

Yes

No

32. How are veterinary facilities available in your village?

Done by Dairy Doctor

Private Doctor

xviii

Others, please specify ________________________________________________

33. What is the arrangement for insemination of cattle?

Artificial

Natural

34. Have you insured your cattle or bovine?

Yes

No

35. Average Monthly Income:

Average gross income from selling milk

Average net income from selling milk

Total monthly income

36. Has Dairying affected your social status? If yes, than how?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

37. Why are you associated with the occupation of dairying?

For selling milk- Private players/Cooperative

For selling calves

For subsistence

Other, _________________________________________

38. Have you observed any increase/decrease in milk production as compared to last 3

years? What do you think are the reasons behind the same?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

39. Name 3 services of dairy which are:

Beneficial, and should be continued Not provided, but are beneficial and should

be provided

xix

Rate the following on a scale of 1 to 5.

1 - Perfectly True

2 - True

3 - Neutral

4 - False

5 - Utterly False

40. Dairying is a profitable occupation.

41. Dairying is a respectable occupation.

42. I want my children to be involved in dairying.

43. My children want to be involved in dairying.

44. Education is important for dairying.

45. I am satisfied with the services offered by the Mandali.

46. I am satisfied with the services offered by Mehsana Dairy.

47. Availability of good cattle feed is an essential requirement for profitable dairying.

48. Availability of credit is important for developing dairying.

49. Dairying is as good as agriculture.

50. I am satisfied with the prices provided for the milk.

51. I am satisfied with functioning of the village Mandali.

52. Dairying is as good as service.

53. Dairying leads to well being of my family.

54. I see better future prospects in dairying as an occupation.

55. I want to leave dairying as an occupation once I find a better job.

56. I would like to scale up my dairy business.

impact of socio-economic changes on milk business in mehsana milk shed

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