Study on Socio-economic and Welfare Status of Various Dairy Farms in the Arid Region of Rajasthan

Abstract

Livestock rearing is a major source of livelihood for over 70% of rural households in India, with a significant proportion being small and marginal farmers and landless labourers. The livestock sector is a vital sector of India's economy and the sector grows at an impressive compound annual growth rate of 8% constant prizes. It provides employment to about 8.8% of the total population. This present study was carried out with the objectives to determine socioeconomic status and assess the welfare status of dairy farms. The study was conducted in four randomly selected districts of Rajasthan's arid region. Each district had two tehsils, further divided into rural and urban dairy farming areas. From each tehsil, 10 dairy farms were selected from both rural and urban regions, totaling 20 farms per tehsil. Overall, 160 dairy farms were studied across eight tehsils in four districts. Using a tested interview schedule, data were collected and assessed using the Dairy Cattle Welfare Scale (DCWS) for cattle welfare.  The welfare of dairy animals was assessed based on welfare indicators using the Calamari and Bertoni (2009) scale as modified by Kamboj and Kumar (2016). The collected data was analyzed by t-test, chi-square test and Pearson correlation coefficient. The mean values of welfare scores in the "housing and other facilities component" out of a total maximum score of 30. The mean value of component A in urban and rural dairy farms were 7.01±0.20 and 11.97±0.32 respectively, whereas the overall mean welfare score for this indicator was 9.49±027. The mean welfare score component A was highly significantly different (P=0.00) in urban and rural dairy farms. The mean values of welfare scores in the "feeds and feeding practice component" out of a total maximum score of 30. The mean value of component B in urban and rural dairy farms was 11.49±0.22 and 10.2±0.42 respectively, whereas the overall mean welfare score for this indicator was 10.85±0.24. The mean welfare score component B was highly significantly different (P=0.005) in urban and rural dairy farms. The mean values of welfare scores in "animal health, performance and behavior component" out of a total maximum score of 40. Mean value of component C in urban and rural dairy farms was 21.19±0.51 and 23.79±0.47 respectively, whereas the overall mean welfare score for this indicator was 22.49±0.37. Overall mean welfare score component C was highly significantly different (P=0.00) in urban and rural dairy farms. Overall mean welfare scores at urban and rural dairy farms were 39.69 and 45.96, respectively with an overall mean of 42.79. The total mean welfare score of rural dairy farms was significantly (P<0.01) higher than urban dairy farms. The study concluded that the welfare score was better in rural dairy farms than in urban dairy farms due to better housing conditions and animal health, performance and behaviour. Feed and feeding practices were better in urban dairy farms due to the availability of green fodder and homemade concentrate mixture.