Dairy Farming – a Case Study

Abstract

Dairy farming is an important discipline of agriculture aimed for production of milk and dairy products. India, being a predominantly agrarian economy, has about, 70% of its population living in villages, where Dairy farming play a crucial rule in the socio-economic life. India is not only one of the top producers of milk in the world, but also the largest consumer of milk and milk products in the world. Dairy sector is instrumental in bringing, socio-economic transformation in India. There exists a great need to enlighten and make the society aware of various opportunities and challenges in the dairy farming. In this context, we have visited SAARA DIARY FARM - situated at Nampally, Hyderabad to observe and understand the daily operations of a functioning dairy farm. The farm houses a total of 40 Cows yielding 3 quintal of milk per day. After the distribution of milk, the remaining was used to prepare dairy products like curd, cheese, butter, ghee etc. The visit to a dairy farm provided us with firsthand experience of dairy farming operations, caring for cows, milking processing and the milk processing. This experience has contributed to personal and professional development and enlightened us with potential career opportunities in the agricultural sector. However, the low productivity per animal and availability and affordability of the quality feed and fodder remains to be the major challenges. In these circumstances, Government should take initiative to promote the dairy farming as major industry to meet the global demand.