Socio-economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic on dairy farm households in West Bengal state

SAHIN AKTAR  MUNSHI; ABHIJIT  DAS; SHIVASWAMY  G P; M C ARUNMOZHI  DEVI; S  SUBASH; S  JEYAKUMAR; MUNIANDY  SIVARAM

doi:10.56093/ijans.v94i2.130041

Authors

SAHIN AKTAR MUNSHI South Regional Station, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560 030 India
ABHIJIT DAS Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab
SHIVASWAMY G P South Regional Station, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560 030 India
M C ARUNMOZHI DEVI South Regional Station, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560 030 India
S SUBASH South Regional Station, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560 030 India
S JEYAKUMAR South Regional Station, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560 030 India
MUNIANDY SIVARAM South Regional Station, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560 030 India

https://doi.org/10.56093/ijans.v94i2.130041

Keywords:

Artificial insemination, Infected and uninfected households, Lockdown, Marketed milk surplus, Milk prices, Milk productivity

Abstract

India is one of the leading economies that have been stuck hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and the stringent measures were put in place to combat it. Among several sectors, dairy sector is the most affected as dairy products are highly perishable and rely on time-sensitive supply chains. Though studies are available on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on dairy sector, there are no studies on COVID-infected dairy farm households. The present study was an attempt to assess the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic on infected and uninfected dairy farm households in West Bengal. The study covered pre-lockdown, lockdown (both 1^st and 2^nd wave) and post-lockdown phases of COVID-19 pandemic. The primary data was collected from 150 dairy farm households (COVID-19 infected-75 and uninfected-75) in Murshidabad and Nadia districts of West Bengal. Dairy Economic Performance Index consisting of number of milch animals, milk yield, marketed milk, milk procurement price, concentrate price and veterinary cost was developed using principal component analysis. In order to make infected and uninfected groups statistically comparable, propensity score matching technique was employed. The index values were compared between matched infected and uninfected groups over different phases of COVID-19 pandemic. Dairy households incurred significant economic losses during the lockdown and post-lockdown periods due to increase in cost of concentrates, decline in the number of milch animals and drop in milk procurement prices. Dairy households faced constraints in procuring dry fodder, concentrate feed and in accessing veterinary care. COVID-19 infected dairy farm households had a greater socio-economic hurdle than that of uninfected households.

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