Impact of green fodder cultivation on milk productivity: A socio-economic analysis in the upper Gangetic plains of India

Abstract

The study assessed the socio-economic status of green fodder cultivators and its effect on milk productivity in the Upper Gangetic Plains of India, focusing on 180 respondents from Moradabad, Rampur, and Amroha districts. A multi-stage stratified purposive-cum-random sampling method was used for data collection. The socio-economic profile revealed that 56.67% of respondents were middle-aged, 95% were literate, and 76.66% had small or marginal landholdings. Most farmers (45.55%) fell into the low-income category, earning below ?50,000 annually, while 52.78% exhibited medium risk orientation and 71.11% had moderate scientific orientation. The study evaluated the relationship between green fodder consumption and milk yield using correlation analysis. Results showed a significant positive correlation between green fodder quantity and milk yield for both cows (r = 0.37) and buffaloes (r = 0.33). Milch animals consuming over 35 kg of green fodder daily produced the highest milk yields (cows: 12.54 liters/day; buffaloes: 7.58 liters/day). The findings underscore the critical role of green fodder in enhancing milk productivity and emphasize the need for promoting scientific fodder production practices among farmers, especially smallholders, to boost dairy productivity and income in the region.