Clean Milk Production Practices Adopted by the Dairy Farmers of R. S. Pura in Jammu District

Clean milk production is considered as one of the important factors in the economy of the state. The adoption of clean milk production practices has great potential for increasing the quality of milk production. Considering the importance of adoption of clean milk production practices followed by dairy farmers and the quality milk production the present study was conducted in R. S. Pura block of Jammu district to evaluate clean milk production practices adopted by the dairy farmers. Multistage random sampling technique was used to select the respondents. R. S. Pura block was purposively selected for the study. From the selected block, a list of villages with maximum populations of milch animals was identified. Out of the list of identified villages, two villages were randomly selected for the study. From each selected villages 20 dairy farmers were selected randomly, thus making a total of 40 farmers. The data were collected by personal interview method using structured interview schedules. The data were coded, classified, tabulated and analyzed using the software; Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS 16.0). The presentation of data was done to give pertinent, valid and reliable answer to the specific objectives. Frequencies, percentage, mean and mean percent score (MPS) were worked out for meaningful interpretation. The results of the study revealed that cleaning of animal house daily was adopted by majority (92.50) of the respondents, very few ( 27.50) percent of respondents have construction of the pucca floor and well drainage system in the animal shed. Only few respondents provide ventilation to animal house and collect the dung and dispose away of the animal house. Very less (17.5) percent of respondents keep milking area clean, disinfested and free from flies and insects. Majority 72.50 percent of respondents adopted the practice of vaccination milking animals regularly. None of the respondents’ cleaned animal shed fifteen minutes before milking, adopted regular examination of milking animal by veterinary doctor and clip hairs around the udder and hind quarter of the milking animal as a preventive measure for clean milk production. A very low 22.50 percentage of respondents wash udder for removal of mud and dung. Not a single respondent practice post and pre-milking tip dipping in potassium permanganate solution. All the respondents (100%) washed their hands with plain water before milking and trimmed their nails regularly. Only 52.5 percent of respondents covered their head with cap or handkerchiefs at time of milking. Milking by healthy person is adopted by majority (85%) of respondents. None of respondents practiced washing entire animal or washing hind quarter or back of cows before milking and changed the clean dress before milking. Majority 82.5 percent of respondents milked milch animals randomly. Only 24.3 percent of adopted the practiced of milking the healthy animals first. Very few 11.90 percentages of respondents uses separate utensils for milking of healthy and sick animal. Majority 77.50 percent of respondents complete milking within 6-7 minutes. None of the respondents dispose fore-milk and practiced post-milking feeding to keep animal in standing position for 15 min. after milking. Only 12.5 percent had adopted the practiced of passing the milk from a sieve or muslin cloth for removal of the dirt.