Knowledge Level and Constraints of Improved Dairy Practices by the Farmers of Dharwad District

Dairy farming is one of the important activities of the rural population of our country. The importance of the dairy, as a subsidiary industry to agriculture, has stressed by the National Commission on Agriculture. Most of the rural farmers, who keep dairy animals, do not follow modern dairy management practices. There is an urgent need to sensitize the dairy farmers about the improved technologies and scientific interventions in dairy production, in order to enhance milk yield and milk quality from dairy animals. The present study was taken up in Dharwad district of Karnataka state with the specific objectives to study the knowledge and constraints of the farmers in adoption of improved dairy practices. Majority of the farmers (40.00%) belonged to middle age group, obtained Middle Education (40.00%), joint family system (70.00%), majority of the farmers belonged to small and medium land holdings, 78.33 per cent of the farmers possessed bullock cart with respect to material possession, nearly half (45.83%) of the farmers belonged to medium income level groups and most of the farmers had medium level of knowledge (53.33%) regarding improved dairy practices.