GOOD MANGEMENT PRACTICES FOR SUCCESSFUL DAIRY FARMING IN INDIA

May 24, 2021

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GOOD MANGEMENT PRACTICES FOR SUCCESSFUL DAIRY FARMING IN INDIA

Introduction:

In India, livestock represents a major national resource and form an integral part of the agricultural production system. Export of live animals and animal product make substantial contributions to the foreign exchange earnings of many countries. In many aspects the dairy industries occupy a special position among others sectors of agriculture milk are produced every day and gives income to the numerous small producers. Milk production is highly labour intensive and makes an enormous variety of high quality product. The high cost of milk as a row has necessitated tech- processing industry. The special nature of milk (perishable and bulky) leads to the necessity of the strict and comprehensive quality regulation and to a high transport costs. The large dependency of milk producers on the dairy industry has resulted in a strong position held by cooperative in milk marketing processing. According to FAO (1990) 42% of the total cattle herd for the private holdings is milking cows. Milk produced from animals provides an important dietary source for the majority of rural as well as considerable number of urban and pre-urban population. The consumption of milk and milk products vary geographically between the high land and level of urbanization. In the lowland all segments of the population consumes dairy products, while in the high land major consumers include primarily children and some vulnerable groups of women. The major function of animal production including dairy animals is to provide protein, energy, mineral and vitamin to supplement the cereal grain and plus in the human diet. Animal products also contribute more to human diet. Ruminant animals can obtain much of their energy and protein from feeds not directly convertible in to food suitable for human consumption, such as food and by product grains not meeting standards for human consumption, forage, pasture, urea and other non-protein nitrogen source. Urban and pre-urban dairy production systems are among the many forms of dairy production system in the tropics. The system involves the production, processing and marketing of milk and milk products that are channeled to consumers in urban centers. Market oriented urban and pre-urban dairy production systems are emerging as important components of the milk production system in India.

Objective and Scope:

The main objective for good dairy farming practice is that safe, quality milk should be produced from healthy animals using management practices that are sustainable from an animal welfare, social, economic and environmental perspective. To achieve this objective, dairy farmers should apply good practice in the following areas:

Animal Health
Milking Hygiene
Nutrition (Feed And Water)
Animal Welfare
Environment; And
Socio-Economic Management. For Each Of These Categories This Guide Lists Good Dairy Farming Practices, And Suggests Measures That Can Be Implemented To Achieve The Desired Outcome

READ MORE : CARBON NEUTRAL DAIRYING

Dairy Farm Management:

Rural Dairy Farmer Empowerment Program is Profitable Dairy Production based on well planned strategies, strong leadership and strong team work. Rural Dairy Farmer Empowerment Program is affected by three factors. These three factors are includes health, Nutrition and Reproduction Three fundamental factors that determine the health Rural Dairy Farmer Empowerment Program & productivity of a high-potential dairy cow are nutrition, comfort & Cows need to be well fed, maintained in a comfortable environment, and bred in a timely fashion in order to express this potential reproduction.

Housing & Manure Management:

There are a wide variety of environmental stressors that must be taken into consideration in a dairy farm management, and they have a direct impact on the production level of the cows. Some of these stressors include; heat stress, poor ventilation, improper stall/feed-bunk design, and not having adequate access to water. Conditions such as these are not only stressful to the cows, but also greatly affect their physiology and productivity.

Many of the farm management aspects such as feeding, breeding, quality milk production, disease control, easiness for manure handling, household labor division & workload, etc. are invariably influenced by the type of housing the farmer has for the dairy animals.

Making the most from Manure It is important to realize that manure is a precious ‘waste’ product. Manure is a natural fertilizer and source of energy. Hence, it needs to be managed well. Objectives of good housing and manure management include improving productivity of dairy animals by reducing different kinds of stress & clean milk production.

Health and Hygiene Management:

It is very important to ensure the optimal care and well-being of dairy cattle to reduce losses in productivity caused by disease and mismanagement. Livestock health is often discussed in terms of the whole herd. That is because whether you have 2 cattle or 200, what distresses one easily can affect the others. Therefore, the health of each animal on the farm is equally important. The large body mass of cows of temperate breeds and their high metabolism makes them susceptible to heat stress under hot conditions. Hot cows eat less, are more likely to become sick and more difficult to get pregnant. Providing adequate shade and cooling for cows during hot weather promotes milk production, reduces mortality, and improves reproductive performance. Cows should always have access to fresh clean water. Cold Stress Adult cows are generally more resilient to cold stress than humans because of their larger body mass; however, frost damage to teats can make them more susceptible to mastitis. Young calves need more feed during cold weather. Good hygiene will prevent transmission of disease, but waste management is a significant logistical problem, where cattle are managed intensively. Udder health is largely influenced by the level of hygiene practiced before, during and after milking. Milking wet, dirty udders increases the risk of mastitis, wiping cows’ teats with a dirty cloth transmits pathogens between cows, and failing to sanitize teats after milking provides opportunity for disease to spread Young calves are particularly susceptible to pathogens that cause diarrhea, but the risk of disease is reduced by feeding adequate colostrum, good milk handling practices and reducing exposure to manure from other animals.

Hygienic Milk Production and Marketing:

Maintaining a high standard of hygiene is one of today’s most important milk production objectives. Attention to hygiene will ensure high quality milk produced from healthy animals. High quality raw milk leads to a satisfactory economical gain to dairy farmers. From public’s health point of view, milk is a very good media for bacterial and other micro organism’s development. As such, disease hazard in public can easily be predisposed by infected milk during production, handling and marketing. As a business, milk which is not available for human and economical use is a loss to the producing farmer.

Feed & Nutrition Management:

Feed and nutrition management is the process of understanding the nutrient requirement of dairy cattle at different growth and lactation stage and combining various feed ingredients to meet these needs in a cost effective manner. Dairy cattle nutrition management is a very important farm management area for two reasons: 1. Nutrition plays a very important role to maintain health and productivity of dairy cattle; 2. Feed is a big part of the cost to produce milk, nearly 60-70%. Since feed is major variable cost that has direct influence on the amount of milk and cost of milk production, it needs a careful management from farmers/farm owners’ side. Main objectives is keeping dairy cows in good condition and Maximize milk production potential of dairy cows, fulfilling nutrient need of dairy cattle in a cost effective way

Fertility Management:

Good fertility management is potentially one of the most effective means of improving the sustainability, efficiency and profitability of dairy farm. Good fertility management means cows must calve at the right time of the year, must be seen in heat, served efficiently and got in-calf as quickly as possible.

Main Objective is of fertility management includes:

To produce enough replacement.
To improve dairy herd productivity.
Key activities/management best practices:
Identifying breeding objective, cost effective & efficient breeding options.
Identifying which cows are on heat that requires consistent observations, including night-time observations.
The nutritive requirement for reproduction should be adequately supplied.
Accurate records/memories on the reproductive status of each cow are essential for efficient fertility management.
Milking cows need to be well fed to rebreed. If cows are too thin or over fat, they will have poorer fertility.
Evaluate periodically the status of the herd.

Dairy Farm Recording:

Record keeping is a necessary element of good dairy management. With no written records, farmers have to depend on their memory while making decisions regarding their farm practices. But, memories can become unreliable after a few days, months or years. Therefore, no matter how good someone’s memory is, it has no substitute for having recordings of information on different aspects of the dairy farm

Types of dairy farm recordings:

There are different types of dairy farm recordings.
Animal Identification/history record
Breeding Record
Milk Production record
Feeding record
Young stock record 6. Financial record

Conclusion:

Dairy farming has been an important part of the agricultural scenario for thousands of years. India being a predominantly agrarian economy has about 70 per cent of its population living in villages, where livestock play a crucial role in the socio-economic life. Livestock provide high-quality foods such as milk, cheese, butter, ghee, etc. 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. Due to the shortfall in supply, we have to import significant amounts of milk products to meet internal demand.

Dr Preeti Verma¹, Dr Poonam Yadav ², Dr Jitendra Kumar³