Effect of Cooperative Dairy Society on the Performance of Dairy farms in Mandya District of Karnataka

The study assessed the benefits of dairy co-operative society based on the primary survey of 160 households (80 members of the dairy cooperative and 80 non-members) in Mandya district of Karnataka. It is evident from results that members of cooperative (Karnataka Milk Federation) had a lower unit cost of milk production than non-members, though the average number of milch animals maintained per household in both groups were almost similar. The cost structure varied with herd size category in both the member and non-member groups, varied from 200 to 211 per day per milch animal. The overall net income generated by the member group of dairy farms was 7, 700 per annum, significantly (p<0.05) higher than the non-member group dairy farms (6, 840 per annum). Besides, higher average annual employment was found to be generated by member group dairy farms. The impact of dairy cooperatives was realised in terms of additional income to the tune of 12.57 per cent and employment by 16.99 per cent.