Socio-economic profile and dairy housing facilities of commercial dairy farmers in Buldana district, Maharashtra

Abstract

The present study was significantly contribute to the sustenance of rural economies. Dairy farming is a vital undertaken to assess the socio-economic profile and dairy housing facilities of commercial dairy farmers in Buldana district of Maharashtra. Thirteen blocks were purposively selected, and a total of 65 commercial dairy farms having ten or more milch animals were studied using a pre- structured interview cum assessment schedule during 1 October 2024 to 10 January 2025. The results revealed that (98.46%) of dairy farmers were male, with 61.54% belonging to the young to middle-age group (up to 40 years), and (72.30%) possessing secondary to graduate-level education. A majority of farmers belonged to joint families (53.85%) and owned semi-medium to medium landholdings (64.61%). Most farms maintained semi-medium (21–30 animals; 40.00%) and small herds (10–20 animals; 26.15%), with 61.54% of farmers earning an annual income between ?10–20 lakh. Housing facilities were dominated by tie-stall systems (86.15%), east–west oriented sheds (61.54%), GI-sheet roofing (95.38%), and constructed mangers (69.23%). However, availability of isolation sheds (6.15%), proper drainage (33.85%), separate milking facilities (9.23%), and machine milking (29.23%) were poorly adopted, indicating the need for infrastructural and extension support.