Adoption of Scientific Dairy Farming Practices among Dairy Farmers in Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

The present study was undertaken from April, 2025 to May, 2025 in the Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu to assess the level of adoption of scientific dairy farming practices among dairy farmers. Data were collected from 60 dairy farmers selected from five villages of Harur block using a pre-tested structured interview schedule. The results indicated that the majority of the respondents were older farmers with high farming experience and medium livestock possession. Further, 63.33% of the respondents had a medium level of overall adoption of scientific dairy farming practices, while 20.00% and 16.67% exhibited high and low levels of adoption respectively. Among breeding practices, artificial insemination and drying of animals before calving recorded higher adoption levels. In feeding practices, colostrum feeding and green fodder cultivation were widely adopted, whereas mineral mixture feeding showed lower adoption. In health care practices, vaccination and isolation of sick animals were highly adopted. In contrast, marketing and general information practices such as cattle insurance, credit utilisation and awareness of government schemes exhibited lower adoption levels. The findings indicated a clear gap between production-oriented and market-oriented practices among dairy farmers in the study area. The results provided useful insights for designing need-based extension strategies to improve adoption levels. The study highlighted the need to strengthen extension efforts and institutional support to improve the adoption of market-oriented and general management practices, thereby enhancing the livelihoods of dairy farmers in the study area.