Impact of Crossbred Cattle Adoption on Income and High-value Food Consumption among Smallholder Dairy Farmers in Assam

The paper has examined the treatment effects of adoption of crossbred cattle on household income and consumption of high-value food and horticultural commodities, using cross-sectional data of 245 dairy farming households in three districts of Assam, namely Barpeta, Sonitpur and Karbi Anglong. The study has used propensity score matching (PSM) technique for impact analysis. The study has shown that adoption of crossbred cattle has statistically significant effect on increasing dairy income and livestock income, while effects on crop/plantation income and off-farm income have not been found statistically significant. Again, other outcome variables under consumption heads have indicated a significant causal relation with adoption of crossbred cattle and increased per capita consumption of milk, fish and meat. The study has suggested that diffusion of crossbreeding programme can play an important role in increasing farm level income and consumption supplementing nutritional needs of the smallholder dairy farmers in Assam.