Exploring the Profile of Dairy Farmers in Jabalpur District, Madhya Pradesh, India

The investigation was conducted in Panagar and Jabalpur blocks of Jabalpur district, selecting 203 commercial dairy farmers purposively. According to the results, the majority (65.52 per cent) of the commercial dairy farmers were from the middle age group (36 to 55 years). Most of the respondents (32.51 per cent) had education up to high school level. Approximately half of the respondents (47.29 per cent) had medium-sized families (6 to 8 members). A majority (61.08 per cent) of the respondents had 9 to 16 years of experience in dairy farming. About half of the respondents (49.75 per cent) had low social participation. Most respondents (61.58 per cent) received only 1 to 2 training sessions about dairying. Approximately half (50.25 per cent) of the respondents were marginal farmers with land holdings up to 1 hectare. For 70.94 per cent of commercial dairy farmers, dairy farming was the major source of income. More than half (58.62 per cent) of the respondents had a herd size of 101 to 250 animals. The majority (66.01 per cent) of the respondents had a milk production of 251 to 1000 litres per day. More than half of the respondents (59.61 per cent) consumed 2.01 to 4 litres of milk per day for their own use. Most respondents (66.01 per cent) sold 251 to 1000 litres of milk per day. The majority (82.76 per cent) of the respondents processed only up to 100 litres of milk per day. Most respondents (92.61 per cent) had a net annual income of up to Rupees 29,13,600. More than half (54.19 per cent) of the respondents had a medium level of mass media exposure, and a higher percentage (52.71 per cent) of commercial dairy farmers had medium extension contact. More than half (55.67 per cent) of the respondents had a medium scientific orientation, majority (61.08 per cent) had medium economic motivation and a higher share (45.81 per cent) had a high level of knowledge about scientific dairy farming practices.