An analysis of perception of dairy farmers regarding clean milk production in the national capital region (NCR)

Though India is the largest milk producer in the world yet its contribution in export market is very low, the reason behind which are the quality and safety aspects of the raw milk; consumers all over the world have become quality conscious and prefer high quality products. Conditions of peri-urban dairies are appalling; milk from these dairies is not safe for human consumption and animals live in conditions that do not provide anything for their natural needs. There is no access to good quality drinking water, green feed, veterinary care or space to move around. In this context the study was undertaken in national capital region where six districts were selected by using proportionately stratified random sampling technique from NCR viz NE Delhi, NW Delhi, Panipat, Sonepat, Baghpat and Alwar. Twenty marginalized dairy holders from each 6 selected districts were selected randomly. Thus a total of 120 respondents were selected to study the perception of the dairy farmers regarding clean milk production practices. The findings of the study revealed that higher favourable perception was there among respondents towards hygiene of milker and milk quality (natural flavor, high fat and SNF) whereas lower favourable perception was found regarding isolation of diseased animal and use of oil/lubricants over teats. The study suggests facilitating training and extension activities for the dairy farmers to create more awareness regarding clean milk production among them.