Journal of Community Mobilization and Sustainable Development

The occupation of successful dairy farming is the gateway for livelihood and nutritional security of farm families. The case study conducted for such a dairy farm reveals the performance and the technology used at farm level. The selected farmer was rearing crossbred cattle of Holstein-Friesian (HF) cross and Jersey cross under semi loose housing system on area of one acre. He was interviewed personally using standard procedure with predesigned questionnaire. He has been trained on dairy farming for one month from Punjab Dairy Development Department at Dairy Training and Extension Centre, Bija and started his dairy farm with 20 cattle of HF cross cows in 2010. His family is also involved in the enterprise and has engaged two permanent labourers at his farm. The selected farmer, Mr. Manjeet Singh Thind; has been raising his own female calves since 2015. On an average he used to add nearly 8-10 animals by raising his own calves. Animals were well fed by the home made silage prepared from maize all over the year. The cows are machine milked twice per day milking frequency and the he sells the milk through society called Progressive Dairy Solution (PDS) associated with PDFA. During the year 2017-18, the farm having lactating 14 HF cross and 03 Jersey cross cows on an average yield of 21 litres/day. The mean lactation length was found to be similar in HF cross and Jersey cross cows that is 270±10 days. The farm was found to be economically viable, earning net profit of Rs. 23,608.2 per animal per year. A successful dairy enterprise can be practised with proper training, technology of AI & marketing with organized sector of milk procurement sector etc.