Assessment of Dairy Farmers' Knowledge Regarding Good Dairy Farming Practices in Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Dairy farming is essential for households with low and moderate-income, serving as a crucial component of both subsistence and commercial farming. The dairy sector holds significant potential and offers ample opportunities to enhance the socio-economic status of farmers due to its ability to generate higher productivity and profits within a shorter timeframe compared to other businesses. The study was conducted to measure dairy farmers' knowledge level regarding good dairy farming practices in Uttar Pradesh. Being the highest milk-producing state in India, Uttar Pradesh was selected purposively for the study. Further selection of districts, blocks, and villages for two each was done randomly. While selecting respondents, 10 percent of dairy farmers from the total household of each village were considered under a proportionate random sampling method. The criteria of the respondents were the dairy farmers should have at least one lactating dairy animal at the time of investigation. From the study, it was observed that 64.85 percent of respondents had knowledge about how many days is the colostrum-free milk available from animals and 81.21 percent of respondents knew about animals going to repeat their heat cycle. The majority (97.88%) of respondents had knowledge about colostrums feeding to newborn calves and 62.42 percent respondents had knowledge about special bedding for newborn calves. 84.24 percent of respondents had knowledge about ill animals and 56.36 percent of respondents had knowledge about the proper disposal of dung. 94.24 percent of respondents knew how many workers manage 5 animals on their farm. 48.79 percent of respondents had overall knowledge about good dairy farming practices. Study identified require a clear strengthening of extension services through targeted training programs to improve the knowledge of key practices among the farming community. Another low awareness is about schemes by the government on support to farmers in terms of finances and technical means. This can be improved through better communication channels by working with local cooperatives and NGOs.