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With an annual production of 138 million metric tonnes during 2013-14, India continues to be
ranked number one in the world in milk production since 1997. Dairying is the main source
of livelihood for our milk producers, majority of them either landless or marginal farmers. For
making dairying a profitable and, sustainable venture, it is important for the dairy farmer to
adopt scientific practices that would lead to increased productivity at optimum costs. For this
to happen, the farmer should be aware of the basic tenets of animal health, breeding and
feeding.
The National Dairy Plan-I (NDP-I) has been launched by the GoI with the aim to double
milk production in the country by 2020. This would require focused efforts in the field of
breeding, feeding and animal health, which would increase productivity and optimize costs.
In breeding, coverage of artificial insemination (AI) needs to be increased using disease free
semen from high genetic merit bulls. There is also an urgent need to optimize the utilization
of feed resources in order to reduce the cost of milk production through balancing the ration
of animals. More importantly, preventive measures to control occurrence of diseases need to
be put in place, which is pivotal in harnessing the full production potential of the animal.
This handbook on scientific dairy practices has been designed keeping these requirements of
the dairy farmers in mind. The handbook attempts to provide basic information on breeding,
healthcare, management, nutrition, fodder production etc, based on existing and new
technologies, along with illustrations. Such information is usually not available from a single
source to the dairy farmer.
We sincerely hope that the handbook would be useful to the dairy farmer.
Dilip Rath
Managing Director
National Dairy Development Board
FOREWORD