Dairying in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh: Constraints to realizing the potential

Abstract

Dairying in Bundelkhand region continues to play a central role in providing livelihood security and coping mechanism to mitigate risks of the resource poor farmers. However, the development of this key sector has not progressed to the desired extent in comparison to other regions of Uttar Pradesh and also across other states. Thus, an attempt was made to study the present status and issues in dairying, analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) and propose strategies for dairy sector development in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh using primary and secondary data in this study. The study identified various issues and constraints, viz. presence of low yielding non-descript cattle, low milk yield, less breedable population, dependency on grazing and crop residues utilization, lack of veterinary services, dominance of middle men in marketing, poor scientific knowledge etc. in the region. Further, it was found that this region of Uttar Pradesh is facing a tentative annual loss of rs. 1,619 crores due to Anna pratha. There is also a need to calculate the losses like crop damage, indiscriminate animal breeding, high cost of production for unproductive animals, lack of milk availability leading to poor human nutrition, etc. Hence, there is a need to focus on short and long term strategies based on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) of dairy sector in Bundelkhand region. A need based research and extension activities by different organizations in the region may be emphasized for the benefit of farming community.