Extent of Adoption of Improved Dairy Management Practices by Trained and Untrained Farm Women Members of SHGs

The study has compared the extent of adoption of improved dairy management practices by the trained and untrained farm women members of SHGs in the Gadag district of Karnataka during 2014–15 by selecting 60 trained and 60 untrained dairy farm women members of SHGs. The study has revealed that the majority (70.00%) of trained and a negligible percentage (1.67%) of untrained farm women members of SHGs belonged to the ‘high extent of adoption’ category of dairy management practices. In relation to practice-wise extent of adoption, most of trained and untrained farm women members of SHGs fully adopted the practices like keeping watch on estrous cycle and heat symptoms of cow/buffaloes (96%) and 50%), practising AI/natural service within 12–14 hours after onset of estrous (98% and 66%), practicing the dry period in cow/buffaloes before 3 months of parturition (93% and 78%), respectively. The study has clearly shown the significance of training in adoption of dairy management practices. To encourage SHG members to adopt improved dairy practices and improve their socio-economic status, the government, agriculture/veterinary universities, KVKs and other extension agencies should focus more on farm women by providing required training facilities and other information.