Dairy farming as a catalyst to improve livelihood of rural farm households in Gujarat

With the Prime Minister’s call to double farmers’ income by 2022, a fair share of the onus falls on dairy sector. In 2012-13, around 81% rural households in Gujarat were engaged in livestock enterprise. This paper examines the contribution of dairy alongside that of cultivation to farmers’ real income in Gujarat in 2003 and 2013. Real growth in expenses in dairy production is also ascertained for the same time points. Real income from dairy in Gujarat has more than doubled during the period. The distribution of income is found to be highly skewed across land classes, social groups and NSS state-regions in the state. Both real dairy expenses and receipts per liter increased by 3.5% and 3.3% respectively during the period. Dairy farming can be the vehicle to enhance farmers’ income with targeted approach encompassing research for technological breakthroughs, infrastructure development, dairy development institutions and human resources crucial for growth in any sector.