An Economic Analysis of Milk Production across Different Herd Sizes of Buffaloes and Crossbred Cows in Middle Gujarat

Abstract

Background: Dairy farming has been emerging as an important commercial enterprise in India as milk is an essential commodity where majority of the population is vegetarian. Milk production plays an important role in the rural economy with particular focus on landless, marginal and small farmers who constitute core milk production system in the country. Therefore, the current study was aimed to analyse milk production across different herd sizes of buffaloes and crossbred cows in Middle Gujarat. Methods: This study is based on the primary data collected from the dairy farmers during the agricultural year 2018-19 by interviewing the respondents through a pre-tested structured schedule from 240 respondents spread over 24 villages of Anand, Kheda and Panchmahal districts of Middle Gujarat. Conclusion: The present investigation indicated that for increasing farmer’s income and eventually livelihood, rearing of crossbred cows should be encouraged in the study area as they have edge over buffaloes in net returns. Break-even analysis indicated that crossbred cow owners were able to cover their total expenditure at a lower point than the buffalo owners due to the fact that the crossbred owners realized higher milk production as compared to buffalo owners.