Comparative Impact Evaluation of Dairy Cooperatives of Jammu and Punjab
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Date
2020-01-07
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Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu (J&K)
Abstract
India ranks first in the milk production in the world, with annual production of 176.35 million tonnes. The dairy cooperatives have been conceived as the main vehicle for implementing dairy development programmes in the country. Much of the success of the ‘White Revolution’ in India is attributed to the cooperative framework of the dairy development strategies. The present study entitled “Comparative Impact Evaluation of Dairy Cooperatives of Jammu and Punjab” was carried out to find out the impact of dairy cooperatives by employing posttest-only non-equivalent control group design. A sample of 120 cooperative dairy farmers (experimental group) each from Jammu and Punjab regions was selected by employing systematic random sampling technique. For control group, 120 non-cooperative dairy farmers were selected from the operational areas of these dairy cooperative societies by employing convenient sampling. The major impact evaluation indicators were: average productivity, gross returns per litre of milk, cost of production per liter, net returns per liter, net income per annum and output-input ratio. The results reveal that there was no significant difference in socioeconomic variables of the dairy cooperative and non-cooperative dairy farmers except for average dairy farming experience in Jammu. Whereas, in Punjab, the differences with respect to average number of milch animals per household and average family size were significant between cooperative and non-cooperative dairy farmers. In Jammu, majority of the dairy cooperative farmers were marginal (72.5%) and possessed on an average of 0.94 ha of operational landholdings. Forty-six percent of the farm households were exclusively dependent on on-farm income and remaining 54 percent were having additional non-farm sources of income. In Punjab, majority of the dairy cooperative farmers were semi-medium and medium with an average of 3.93 ha of landholdings. Fifty two percent of the farm households were exclusively dependent on crop production and dairying, and remaining 48 percent were having additional non-farm sources of income. All the cooperative dairy farmers were having extension contacts with the department of animal husbandry in Jammu and Punjab. The average number of milch animals possessed by the experimental group in Jammu and Punjab was 2.34 and 7.04, respectively. The average net returns per month per animal were higher for cooperative dairy farmers than their non-cooperative counterparts in Punjab and Jammu with respective differences of Rs 1129 and Rs 491which were significant. Significant differences were also observed when net returns per month were compared between cooperative dairy farmers from both the regions. The average productivity of dairy animals per households differed significantly between cooperative dairy farmers and non-cooperative dairy farmers. The average cost of production per litre was higher in non-cooperative dairy farmers in Punjab and the difference of Rs 3.65 was significant. But there was no significant difference for average cost of production per litre in Jammu between cooperative and non-cooperative dairy farmers. The output-input ratios of milk production for cooperative dairy farmers of Jammu and Punjab were 1.53 and 1.78, respectively. In Jammu, the factors influencing the dairy farmers’ decision to opt for cooperative dairying were proximity of milk collection centre, milk production, number of sources of income and number of animals in lactation (R2=0.396). In Punjab, number of extension contacts impacted positively and crop production as main occupation affected negatively with the dairy farmers decision to opt for dairy cooperatives (R2=0.683). Perceptions of cooperative dairy farmers were more favourable in Punjab with perception index at 0.725 where as in Jammu it was 0.510. The study provides empirical evidence about the performance of dairy cooperatives in Jammu which is far from being satisfactory, primarily due to poor membership and low level of milk procurement.