State Of Dairy Cattle Rajasthan Report

Author(s): Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations
Publisher: Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations

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INTRODUCTION
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk-mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffaloes, sheep. horses, or camels- for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or in a section of a multi-purpose farm (mixed farm) that is concerned with the harvesting of milk. From the point of view of size and nature, five broad typologies of dairy systems can be derived in the Indian context:
• Large commercial dairies • Urban dairies • Government breeding farms and research facilities • Small holders (both, within the cooperative framework as well as outside it) • Gaushalas (or cattle shelters)
For the purpose of this investigation in Rajasthan we chose to collect evidences of animal welfare violations from urban and small holder dairies, these can be defined as:
Urban Dairies Mainly concentrated in and around cities and are oriented towards meeting the high milk demand of urban centres. These facilities vary in size and are often limited because of space constrains in urban areas. There are overlaps between dairies classified as large commercial dairies and these. The essential difference between the two is the nature of entrepreneurial outlook. The urban dairies typically are focussed on quick short term profit and hence severely compromise not only animal welfare and health but also environment pollution and milk quality. In fact these dairies are the progenitors of synthetic milk" and food safety is a key area of concern with their operations. Key characteristics of such dairies are:
• Typically setup to make short term profit • Located in and around urban areas that have a large market for milk. • High yielding animals, including buffalos. • Some mechanisation may be seen. However, in order to keep input costs extremely low,
by and large, mechanisation will, at best, be rudimentary. • Poor or no quality control • Little investment in animal health • Lactating animals purchased and sold off after a lactation ends . Poor environmental management • Average herd size 20 upwards