Good Management Practices for Successful Dairy Farming in India
Introduction:
We all must be proud that India stands 1st largest milk producer in the world. To stay strong with this position in the coming years, we have to adopt the best and safe management practices to maintain the constancy. Dairy farming is a business that has been run by the family from ancient times. But now, we have enough technologies and knowledge to adopt and practice the best and suitable management practices for creating successful dairy farming in India. Let’s have a look at some of the management practices.
Management practices:
Some of the management practices that we have to adopt for the creation of successful dairy farming in India. They are
- Management of nutrition
- Health of animals
- Housing cattle
- Selection of breeds
- Hygiene milking
- Spreading awareness to the cattle rearers
- Innovative marketing technologies
- Waste management
- Maintaining daily records
These are some of the management practices that we have to adopt for making India stand in 1st position in milk production forever.
Management of nutrition:
Maintaining good nutrition quality is the first and foremost duty to make dairy farming more successful. To maintain the nutrition quality, we have to understand the nutrient requirement of the cattle, and the feed with which we feed the animal should be budget-friendly. Care must be taken because nutrition plays an inevitable role in increasing the nutritious milk yield. Thus, management of nutrition while feeding the animal is highly important to obtain rich nutritious milk.
Health of animals:
As we all know, good health paves the way for good wealth. We have to regularly check the health of animals. Good care is taken to prevent health issues. If optimal care is provided, the animal will be healthy and it will make you wealthy. That’s how health plays a vital role in the management of dairy farming.
Housing cattle:
Housing cattle is the most important part to make the dairy farm more successful. Housing alone doesn’t make the farm more successful. We have to consider a hygienic environment and comfort while housing the cattle. Housing indirectly influences the milk yield and health of the cow. Housing makes animals healthy when it should be free from stress-causing factors such as poor ventilation, inappropriate temperature, insufficient light, etc., So, the best housing will make the cattle healthy and increase the yield of milk. It will be better to follow animal welfare principles and taking advice from the experts while housing.
Selection of breeds:
Selection is the most important phenomenon that plays a crucial role in milk yield. Because the milk yield varies with the different types of cattle. The breed’s choice may be indigenous or exotic or crossbreeds but it should be selected based on milk yield because the main objective of dairy farm concerns with milk. So, breeds with high milk yielding capacity should be selected for making dairy farming more successful and it is one of the best management practices for making India top the large milk-producing country in the world
Hygiene milking:
Milking is the main process in the dairy farm. During this pandemic, the whole world is trying its level best to maintain each and every aspect. So, hygienic milking is important and it must be adopted in the current situation. Milking can be done both manually and mechanically with the help of man. In this situation, we have to avoid milking with hands and in the same way, man should follow personal hygiene while milking the cattle with the machine. And also, care must be taken to make the milk contaminants-free and disease-free. As the milk is used for human consumption utmost care is taken till the milk is processed, packed, and delivered to the customers who consume the milk. So, hygiene is the word to be remembered while milking.
Spreading awareness to the cattle rearers:
Most of the cattle rearers are uneducated and they don’t know about creating a successful dairy farm. So, they must be helped both financially and also mentally with good management practices. We have to aware them in each and every aspect of dairy farming such as nourishing the cattle, housing the cattle, and maintaining the health and hygiene of the cattle. Awaring them helps them to awake and make them lead to the dairy farm with good management practices.
Innovative marketing technologies:
“Innovation brings attraction.”
Likewise, adopting innovation helps to attract a lot of customers. Packing the dairy products with attractive captions, advertising via social media, app developing for the order and delivery of the products. But we should forget the term of safe marketing which the customers will expect during the pandemic. So, adopting and practicing innovative marketing technologies also included under the good management practices of a dairy farm.
Waste management:
We shouldn’t focus only on dairy products in dairy farming. We can even make money even from the waste. Even the waste can turn into wealth. The waste can be used for the growth of fodders or we can even sell the waste to earn additional income. Disposing waste and utilizing the waste is also one of the good managing practices.
Maintaining daily records:
Record maintaining helps to assess the progress of the dairy farm. Each and every activity should be recorded for future assessment. Separate records should be maintained such as for feeding, breeding, milk yield, vaccination, etc., Record maintaining helps to analyze the profit and losses of the farm and also to verify the list of activities carried out in a farm. Maintaining records is also good for dairy farm management practices.
Conclusion:
It has been demonstrated that the good management practices for successful dairy farming in India. We should not lose the 1st position because of a microscopic virus called the Coronavirus and also, we have to lock our 1st position in milk production even during the lockdown. Hence, the need to adopt good management practices is obvious.
“ Let’s adopt these and stay on the top always.”
Submitted by,
Saravanan N
1st year B.V.Sc and A.H.,
Veterinary College and Research Institute, Tirunelveli- 627 358.
TANUVAS, Chennai.
