Impact of Socio-Economic Changes On Milk Business in Mehsana Milk Shed

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
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 Coordinator 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).
ii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Impact of Socio Economic Changes on Milk Business in Mehsana Milk
Shed Area
Mehsana District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Ltd., Gujarat
II. Organization
III. Reporting Officer Dr. Nitin Sancheti
Prof. Paresh Bhatt
IV. Faculty Guide
V. Participants Name Ishita Kotak (34072), Parag Somani (34036) and Vivek Yadav (34164)
I. Title
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 arent used. This is owing to the
fact that whether theres actual demand or not is ignored and technical assistance isnt 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.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.ii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.iii
CHAPTER: 11
INTRODUCTION1
1.1.
1.2.
1.3.
1.3.1.
1.3.2.
1.3.3.
1.3.4.
1.4.
1.5.
1.6.
1.7.
1.8.
1.8.1.
1.8.2.
1.8.3.
Dairy industry in India.............................................................................................1

Milk Production And Procurement.1
Factor conditions affecting Milk Procurement in Mehsana..2
Quality of animals...2
Human capacity and technical skills...3
Availability of Formal/Informal credit3
Extension services-..4
Mehsana District Milk Producers Co-operative Limited.4

Milk cooperative structure...4
Services provided by the Dudhsagar dairy.5
Milk procurement trends..7
Objectives and Approach.8
Objectives of the study8
Scope of the Study...........................................................................................................8
Limitations of the Study..................................................................................................9
CHAPTER:2...10
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..10
2.1.
2.1.1.
2.2.
2.3.
2.3.1.
2.3.2.
2.3.3.
2.3.4.
Sources of Data Collection..10

Primary Sources:...10
Tools for Data Collection....10

Sampling Plan..11
Sampling Technique:.11
Sample Size...12
Sampling Frame.12
Sampling Unit12
CHAPTER: 3..13
SAMPLE PROFILE...13
3.1.
3.2.
3.3.
3.4.
3.5.
3.6.
Community Composition....13
Education..13
Occupational Preference.14
Cattle Composition..15
Composition of Cattle Owners...16
Composition of Land Owners.17
iv
CHAPTER: 4..18
DATA ANALYSIS.18
4.1.
Milking and Livestock production
phases18
4.2.
Herd Mix..19
4.3.
Feeding Pattern20
4.4.
Fodder buying pattern21
4.5.
Usage of land for fodder..22
4.6.
Access To Medical Services22
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.
5.2.
5.3.
5.4.
5.5.
5.6.
5.7.
5.8.
5.9.
5.10.
Attracting Youth towards Dairy farming.37

Creation of an extension service department38
Provision of Technical Assistance..........................................................................39
Increasing the Outreach.........................................................................................40
Increasing the size of Herd.....................................................................................40
Increasing Prices of Milk / Subsidize Cattle Feed41
Introduction of Azolla cultivation as a substitute for cattle feed42
Development of Co-operative / Community Fodder Farms................................43
Encouraging farmers to undertake silage preparation-..44
Provision of credit facilities44
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................x
ANNEXURES..............................................................................................................xi
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
vi
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
vii
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
viii
ix
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 countrys 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.
Figure 1: Milk Supply Channels

MILK
PRODUCTION
MILK
PRODUCTION
HOUSEHOLD
CONSUMPTION
(40%)
SURPLUS MILK
SOLD (60%)
ORGANISED
SECTOR (30%)
COOPERATIVES
PRIVATE
INTERNATIONAL
DAIRIES
DAIRY INDUSTRY
PRIVATE &
GOVERNMENT
PROCESSORS
DAIRY
COOPERATIVES
PRIVATE
NATIONAL
DAIRIES
MILK VENDORS
WHOLE SELLERS
UNORGANISED
SECTOR (70%)
GOVERNMENT
DAIRIES
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.
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
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 servicesExtension 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 producers awareness so that they could manage their own affairs through cooperatives. 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.
Figure 2: Milk Union Structure

MILK PRODUCERS
Village cooperative Societies with
chilling units
Village cooperative Societies

without chilling units
NETWORK
Chilling Centres
/SERVICES
Dudhsagar Dairy
1. Veterinary services
2. Animal camps
3. Cattle feed
GCMMF Warehouses
4. Animal Husbandry
5. Milking machines
Whole sellers
Consumers
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
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 Cooperative 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.
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.
The growth in the number of DCS and Bulk milk chilling units is represented by graphs in the appendix.
Chart 1: Milk Procurement Trend at Dudhsagar

1000
900
800
700
600
500
816.1
400
615.5
300
400.2
200
276.2
100
0
925.2
1.1
46.5
145.1
1961-62 1970-71 1980-81 1990-91 2000-01 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13
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
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.
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:
2.2.
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
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
10
2.3.
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
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
Dudhsagar
Dairy
Hansapur
Harij
Kadi
Kheralu
Mehsana
Vihar
Aendla
Katara
Pally
Mumanvas
Jornang
Delvada
Vayad
Roda
Rajpur
Sardarpura
Vadasma
Hirpura
Sarava
Naranpura
Dudhai
Ganeshpura
Chitrodipura
Deriya
Bhatasan
Toranipura
Ambaliara
Nava
Delwada
Punasan
Anodiya
Koita
Sankara
Kasva
Kheralu
Mulsan
Bapupura
Kimbuva
Brahmanvad
a
Thol
Motipura
Kherva
Gozariya
11
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
12
Chapter: 3
SAMPLE PROFILE
3.1.
Community Composition
Chart 2: Community Composition of Respondents
Prajapati
5%
Others
9%
Thakor
28%
Darbar
6%
Chaudhary
15%
Patel
20%
Rabari
17%
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.
13
Chart 3: Education level of Respondents

38.21
40.00
% of Respondents
35.00
30.00
25.47
25.00
20.00
16.04
12.26
15.00
8.02
10.00
5.00
0.00
Illiterate
Literate
SSC
HSC
>=Graduate
Extent of Education
3.3.
Occupational Preference
Chart 4: Occupation Composition of Respondents
N.A
Service/Business
Manual Labour
Animal
Husbandry
Agriculture
Preference 1
Preference 2
Preference 3
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
14
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 2nd
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
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
10.38
% of
Respondents
Not Having
Bovine
50
91.04
89.62
% of
Respondents
Having
Bovine
50
8.96
Cross Bred Cow
Local Cow
Type of Cattle
Buffalos
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
15
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

1%
7%
Marginal- upto 2 cattles
19%
12%
Small- between 3 to 9
cattles
Semi Medium- between 10
to19 cattles
Medium- between 20 to 49
cattles
Large- Above 50 cattles
61%
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.
16
3.6.
Composition of Land Owners

1%
Marginal- upto 5 bigha
9%
17%
48%
Small- between 5.1 to 11

bigha
Semi Medium- between
11.1 to 24 bigha
Medium- between 24.1 to
60 bigha
25%
Large- Above 60 bigha
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.
17
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
18
For ideal rearing of cattle and maximum milk production, an offspring born
should be fed mothers 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 calfs 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
80.00
% of Responents
70.00
60.00
50.00
40.00
30.00
20.00
10.00
0.00
40% &
Less
50% &
Less
60% &
Less
Less than Less than Ideal mix

70%
80%
Lactating Cattle
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.
19
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
(in kg)
Mean Mode
Green
Fodder
Dry
Fodder
Sagar
Daan
Range
Buffalo
Ideal
Mean
Range
20 19.3
25
Mode
Range
Ideal
Range
20
3 - 60
20 -25
16.7
20
5 - 50
13
10
2 - 40
5-8
15.2
10
2 - 50
5-8
4.6
0 - 10
4-8
4.81
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
Vihar
Mehsana
Kheralu
Kadi
Hansapur
Harij
0
Hi Pro Daan
40
60
Sagar Samruddhi Daan
20
Makai Papdi
20
80
Kapas Papdi
100
Sagar Daan
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
%of Respondents
Chart 10: Fodder buying pattern
50.0
45.0
40.0
35.0
30.0
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0
Both
Only Dry
Fodder
Only Green
Fodder
None
Type of Fodder
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
21
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.
16.59%
Land used for fodder

cultivation
Land used for Crop
cultivation
83.41%
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.
22
Chart 12: Access to Medical Services
53.3
60
44.8
% of Respondents
50
40
30
20
1.9
10
0
Dairy Doctor
Private Doctor
Both
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.
23
Chart 13: Preference of Veterinary Services

79.7
80
% of Respondents
70
60
50
40
20.3
30
20
10
0
Dairy Doctor
4.8.
Private Doctor
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
24
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.
25
Table 6: Crosstab between Community and VDCS Performance

Type_Mandali
Total
Chaudhary
Darbar
Others
Community
Patel
Prajapati
Rabari
Thakor
Total
High
Constant
Low
Count
11
16
31
% within
Community
35.5%
12.9%
51.6%
100.0%
Count
13
% within
Community
53.8%
46.2%
.0%
100.0%
Count
19
% within
Community
15.8%
47.4%
36.8%
100.0%
Count
13
22
42
% within
Community
31.0%
16.7%
52.4%
100.0%
Count
11
% within
Community
72.7%
9.1%
18.2%
100.0%
Count
22
10
37
% within
Community
59.5%
27.0%
13.5%
100.0%
Count
37
13
59
% within
Community
15.3%
62.7%
22.0%
100.0%
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
26
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.
27
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
Grouping based on Cattle Ownership
Community
/ Caste
Chaudhary
Count
% within Community 12.90%
Darbar
71.00%
9.70%
3.20%
3.20%
11.50%
7.10%
33.30%
Count
46.20%
7.70%
0.00%
7.70%
% within
Cattle_Grouping
12.50%
4.70%
3.80%
0.00%
33.30%
Count
42.10%
10.50%
10.50%
0.00%
% within
Cattle_Grouping
17.50%
6.20%
7.70%
14.30%
0.00%
Count
10
19
45.20%
16.70%
11.90%
2.40%
% within
Cattle_Grouping
25.00%
14.70%
26.90%
35.70%
33.30%
Count
48
81.40%
5.10%
0.00%
0.00%
Prajapati
22
17.10%
Thakor
Large
10.00%
Patel
Medium
% within
Cattle_Grouping
Others
Semi
Medium
Marginal Small
% within
Cattle_Grouping
20.00%
37.20%
11.50%
0.00%
0.00%
Count
28
Rabari
% within Community
9.10%
54.50%
27.30%
9.10%
0.00%
% within
Cattle_Grouping
2.50%
4.70%
11.50%
7.10%
0.00%
Count
20
54.10%
18.90%
13.50%
0.00%
15.50%
26.90%
35.70%
0.00%
18.90% 60.80%
12.30%
6.60%
1.40%
Total
% within
Cattle_Grouping
% within
Community
12.50%
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
120
Selling Cattle
100
Farm Manure
80
Household
Consumption
Income from
Selling Milk
60
40
20
0
Preference 1
Preference 2
Preference 3
29
Preference 4
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
% within Cattle
Shed
70
30
100
% of Total
29.7
12.7
42.5
% of Total
84.9
15.1
100
Pakka
Total
30
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
% within
Cattle Shed
77.8
7.8
14.4
100
% of Total
33
3.3
6.1
42.5
% of Total
68.4
18.4
13.2
100
Pakka
Total
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.
31
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
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Profitable
Occupation
% Agree
Respectable
Occupation
Expansion Plan Importance of

Credit
% Undecided/Indifferent
%Disagree
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.
32
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
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Prosperity
% Agree
Want to Involve Children want Future Potential

Children
Join
%Disagree
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.
33
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
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Satisfied with
Mandali
% Agree
Satisfied with
Dudhsagar
Satisfied with Fat

Prices
%Disagree
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 farmers 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.
34
Chart 18: Relative Preference of Occupation
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Agriculture = Dairy
% Agree
Service = Dairy
If Service
%Disagree
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.
35
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
36
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.
37
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 Kendras 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.
38
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.
39
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:
5.5.
Covering all the cattles 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
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
40
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
41
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 livestocks.
Livestocks can easily digest it owing to its high protein content and low lignin content.
Also its 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)
42
Table 11: Comparison Biomass and Protein content of Azola

Fodder species
Annual Biomass
production
Dry matter
content
Protein content
Napier grass
250
50
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 44 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 C 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.
43
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 cattles are underfed which results in low production of milk. To
reduce this farmers 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.
44
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/azollalivestock-feed>
Annexure: 1. Map of Gujarat with Mehsana location
Annexure: 2. List of sampled villagesDudhsagar

Dairy
Hansapur
Harij
Kadi
Kheralu
Mehsana
Vihar
Aendla
Katara
Pally
Mumanvas
Jornang
Delvada
Vayad
Roda
Rajpur
Sardarpura
Vadasma
Hirpura
Sarava
Naranpura
Dudhai
Ganeshpura
Chitrodipura
Deriya
Bhatasan
Toranipura
Ambaliara
Nava Delwada
Punasan
Anodiya
Koita
Sankara
Kasva
Kheralu
Mulsan
Bapupura
Kimbuva
Brahmanvad
a
Thol
Motipura
Kherva
Gozariya
xi
Annexure: 3. List of Dairy Cooperative Societies sampled for primary data

collection
Sr. No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
Society
Code
579
1740
425
116
904
881
814
385
331
1017
603
479
126
1141
415
96
666
1531
1391
1404
1385
1323
851
886
612
19
817
558
566
897
850
896
646
57
431
17
Dairy Cooperative Society

Aendla
Pragati mahila delvada
Vayad
Hirpura
Jornag
Vadasma
Rajpur
Sardarpura
Mumanvas
Pally
Katara Samal
Roda
Deriya
Toranipura
Bhatasan
Anodiya
Sarava
Naranpura
Chitrodipura
Ganeshpura
Nava Delvada
Dudhai
Ambaliara
Punasan
Sankara
Motipura
Kasva
Kimbua
Koita
Kherva
Thol
Mulsan
Brahmanvada
Bapupura
Kheralu
Gozaria
xii
Annual Milk Procurement

(in liters)
3137421
3287577
2889836
2803989
1730123
1318612
1376458
1401770
1328008
663116
1381818
1169406
313859
102535
495818
142395
206907
57835
184142
104624
527080
183405
162684
833029
392585
743605
416283
385043
577723
1745138
452592
528708
1132493
5653861
3935446
1966881
Annexure: 4. Product mix of Dudhsagar Dairy

Sr. No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Products manufactured
Amul Gold
Amul Shakti
Amul Butter
Amul Ghee
Sagar Ghee
Amul Cow Ghee
Amul Mithai Mate
Sagar Skimmed Milk powder
Amulya
Amul Spray
Amul Moti
Sagar Moti
Sagar Sfurti
Sagar Chash
Amul Kool Kesar
Amul Kool Rose
Amul Kool Badam
Amul Kool Elaichi
Frozen Yoghurt
Masti Dahi
Amul Lite
Amul Icecreams
Annexure: 5. Growth In the number of Dairy Cooperative Socities over the

years-
xiii
Annexure: 6. Growth in the number of Bulk milk chilling units over the years-
Bulk Milk Chilling Unit

800
600
400
200
97
557
637
2011-12
2012-13
387
210
0
2008 - 09
2009-10
2010-11
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
xiv
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. _____________________________________________________________________
xv
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
xvi
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
xvii
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
xviii
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.
xix

Impact of Socio-Economic Changes On Milk Business in Mehsana Milk Shed

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IMPACT OF SOCIO ECONOMIC CHANGES ON

MILK BUSINESS IN THE MEHSANA MILK SHED

ISHITA KOTAK (34072)

Development Internship Segment

FACULTY GUIDE: PROF. PARESH BHATT

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

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

Mehsana District Milk Producers Co-operative Limited.4

Sources of Data Collection..10

Tools for Data Collection....10

Attracting Youth towards Dairy farming.37

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

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

Dairy industry in India

Milk Production And Procurement

Figure 1: Milk Supply Channels

Factor conditions affecting Milk Procurement in Mehsana

Mehsana District Milk Producers Co-operative Limited

Milk cooperative structure

Figure 2: Milk Union Structure

Village cooperative Societies

Services provided by the Dudhsagar dairy

Internal Consultant Development Program (ICD)

Ration Balancing Program (RBP)

Management Development Program

Buffalo Show and Technical Exposure

Compound Cattle Feed

Fertility Improvement Program (FIP):

Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP)

Milk procurement trends

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

Chart 1: Milk Procurement Trend at Dudhsagar

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

Objectives and Approach

To summarise the findings and make suggestions to increase the milk

1.8.2. Scope of the Study

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

Limited to six zones coming under the purview of Dudhsagar dairy

1.8.3. Limitations of the Study

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

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

Sources of Data Collection

2.1.1. Primary Sources:

Data obtained from respondents on the basis of survey conducted

2.1.2. Secondary Sources:

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

Tools for Data Collection

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

2.3.1. Sampling Technique:

Variables taken into Consideration

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

Chart 3: Education level of Respondents

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

Composition of Cattle Owners

Composition of Land Owners

Small- between 5.1 to 11

Large- Above 60 bigha

Milking and Livestock production phases

Cross bred Cow

Table 3: Age at 1st Calving

Cross bred Cow

Less than Less than Ideal mix

Sagar Samruddhi Daan