Energy Use Efficiency in Dairy Farming of Tamilnadu

A study was undertaken to assess the energy use pattern in cow milk production based on the primary data collected from sixty dairy farmers from Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu. The results revealed that the highest input energy per animal per day was noticed in large farms (182.59 MJ), followed by medium farms (178.30 MJ), small farms (159.38 MJ) with the overall average of 173.85 MJ. Of all the input energy components, green fodder occupied a major share (61.92 %), followed by concentrate (23.49 %), veterinary expenses (8.34 %), dry fodder (3.78 %) and human labour (2.22 %). Average output energy per animal per day was the highest in large farms as the milk yield was higher (18.17 MJ), followed by small farms (15.32 MJ) and medium farms (15.02 MJ) with the overall average output energy of 15.83 MJ. Out of the total output energy, 83.83 % was from milk and the rest from manure. The results of energy ratio indicated that, small and large farms were having the higher energy ratio of 0.10 compared to energy ratio of medium farms (0.08). Regarding the energy productivity, large farmers were more productive with 100 MJ of energy, 3 litres of milk was produced. Regarding the factors influencing the energy use efficiency of dairy farms, the parameter estimates of the determinants of energy productivity showed that variable farm size (number of animals) and breed were found to be significantly influencing the energy productivity.