Challenges of dairy farming in Manipur: a situational analysis on feeding of animals

Dairy farming is the system of farming/rearing animals especially cattle and buffalo for milk production either extensively or for family consumption thus providing almost livable income to the farming family. Moreover the workforce in this sector is mostly of the women with some regional exceptions such as the northeastern states of India. In the northeastern region of India 80 per cent of the area is being covered with hills and forests and abundant natural resources such as grasses, tree fodder etc. Despite these facts the dairy farming is not well established. Therefore this study was espoused to investigate the feedback on feeding-related aspects in dairy farming. The study was carried out in the two districts of Manipur viz Imphal-East and Imphal-West with sample size of 80 farm families with total 160 respondents (both men and women interviewed separately with semistructured interview schedule). Some of the interesting findings revealed that dairy farming was not commercially practiced in the hills and also the cultivation of fodder crop was negligible. They mostly grazed their animals in common property land and fed them rice straw. Tree leaves gathering during rainy days for animals, lack of government support etc were some of the important issues raised by the respondents in the study area.