Impact of Dairy Cooperatives on Income and Employment of Farmers in South Western Punjab

The present study has been conducted in Sri Muktsar Sahib District which is facing the problems of periodic cotton crop failures, the water logging and it is emerging as milk producing district in South-Western region of Punjab. The uncertainty of income from the crop sub-sector forced the farmers to shift towards dairy to earn regular income for their livelihood. Therefore, the task of milk cooperative societies assumed the prime importance to streamline the production and marketing of milk. The results of the study clearly indicated that overall net income was higher (27446) in the member group than non member group (20355). The reason for the relatively higher profits of member farmers was provision of improved inputs and technical knowhow by the co-operatieves which help in improving the productivity level. The overall labour utilization per annum per milch animal was also higher (101 man days) in the member group than the non-member group (92 man days). The study noticeably indicated a positive impact of dairy cooperatives on the income and employment generation of milk producers in the study area.