Economics of Milk Production in Belagavi District of Karnataka: A Comparative Study on Women Dairy Self-Help Group Members and Non-members

The present investigation was conducted in the Belagavi district of Karnataka to compare the economics of milk production with member and non-members of Women Dairy Self-Help Groups (WDSHGs). The primary data was collected from 90 members and 90 non-members of households from two seasons i.e. rainy and summer in the year 2015–16. The gross cost for maintaining local cow, crossbred cow and buffalo was found to be 91.75, 146.22 and 128.29 for member is more as against 88.11 for local cow, 142.36 for crossbred cow and 124.67 for buffalo in case of non-members. The cost per litre of milk of local cow ( 28.15), crossbred cow ( 20.73) and buffalo ( 26.82) was found to be slightly less for members in comparison to non-members 28.91 for local cow, 21.10 for crossbred cow and 27.08 for buffalo. The net returns per liter of milk was found to be -1.74 for local cow, 3.76 for crossbred cow and 2.45 for buffalo in members were slightly higher as compared to -2.57 for local cow, 3.18 for crossbred cow and 2.02 for buffalo in non-members. Here, net return per liter of milk for local cow is negative because, less productivity of local cow overall the net returns from dairy farming is higher for members as compared to non-members.