Family type
Family structure, size, head’s gender and head’s literacy across the three zones is depicted in Table 1. Most of the dairy farmers in the present study lived in nuclear families. Similar trend has been reported by
Saha et al., (2010), Kumar et al., (2012) and
Vekariya et al., (2016), but
Bhanotra et al., (2016) and
Kannojiya and Kumar, (2017) reported a lower proportion of farmers living in nuclear families compared to joint families in their respective studies. Differences in the family structure observed in different studies may be attributed to the fact that social structures keep changing with time and location.
In terms of family size, most of the farmers in the present study overall had medium sized family, followed by farmers who had small sized family and then by farmers having large family. Predominance of medium sized families among dairy farming communities have also been stated by
Bhanotra et al., (2016) and
Kannojiya and Kumar, (2017).
Majority of the families in all three zones were male headed in the present study. Similar findings have been reported by
Staal et al., (2006) and
Njarui et al., (2012) in their respective studies in different areas.
Overall in Srinagar district, only 39.12% family heads were observed to be literate in the present study. Lower literacy percentage of family heads of dairy farming families has also been reported by
Wani et al., (2004) in various zones of Jammu and Kashmir but higher level have been reported by
Gupta et al., (2014) in Eastern Region of India.
Family size and composition
Average overall family size of dairy farmers in Srinagar district was found to be 6.9±0.17 members in the present study (Table 1). Almost similar family size of dairy farmers has been reported by
Wani et al., (2004) and
Gupta et al., (2014).
The family of dairy farmers in Srinagar overall, comprised of 2.18±0.05, 2.32±0.05, 1.16±0.05 and 0.95±0.06 adult males, adult females, male children and female children respectively in the present study (Table 1).
Wani et al., (2004) reported lesser number of adult males and adult females, but higher number of male children and female children in the family of dairy farmers across various agro-climatic zones of Jammu and Kashmir.
Literacy rate
Overall literacy rate of the dairy farmer’s family in Srinagar district was 66.20±1.04%, being higher in male members than the female members (Table 1). The family education status of most dairy farmers have been reported to be medium to high level by
Saha et al., (2010) in their respective study.
All the farmers (100%) who had children in all the three zones sent their children to schools for education in the present study (Table 1) indicating increased awareness among the dairy farming communities regarding the power of education.
Livelihood status
In Srinagar only 34.11±0.62% overall members in a family were earning, with 40.32±1.17%, 29.16±0.84% and 34.09±1.17% in zone 1, zone 2 and zone 3 respectively in the present study (Table 1). A higher proportion of earning members in families of dairy farmers was reported by
Wani et al., (2004).
It was found that in Srinagar district overall, 60.78±1.13% members of a dairy farmer’s family were involved in dairying in the present study (Table 1). Active involvement of women in dairy farming has also been reported by
Ponnusamy et al., (2020).
In Srinagar district overall, dairy farming was the primary occupation of 30.19% farmers, followed by 21.27%, 16.72%, 15.42% 8.28% and 8.12% farmers who were labourers, businessmen, artisans, government/private sector employs and agricultural farmer by profession respectively but reared cows too in the present study (Table 1). Various types of professions of farmers rearing cows similar to the present study have been reported by
Wani et al., (2004), Farooq (2016),
Bhanotra et al., (2016) and
Kannojiya and Kumar (2017).
Housing and land holding status
In the present study, overall Srinagar district had 78.25% dairy farmers who lived in pucca houses with the remaining 21.75% living in semi-kutcha houses (Table 2).
Kannojiya and Kumar (2017) reported that only 0.83% farmers lived in pucca houses in a study carried out in Uttar Pradesh, while 55.84% farmers in Jammu and Kashmir have been reported to live in permanent houses by
Kumar et al., (2012).
It was observed that in Srinagar overall 62.66% farmers had land holdings, whereas the remaining 37.34% farmers were landless (Table 2).
Kumar et al., (2012) and
Bhanotra et al., (2016) reported that only a small proportion of dairy farmers were landless with the majority owning land in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Livestock
Livestock other than cattle kept by the farmers included sheep, goat, poultry, horses, rabbits and buffaloes in the present study (Table 2), as also been reported by
Saha et al., (2010), Kumar et al., (2012) and
Gupta et al., (2014) in their respective studies.
The cattle inventory present with the dairy farmers at the time of survey is given in Table 3. The average number of adult bulls and dry cows kept by the dairy farmers overall in the present study was found to be less than the reports of
Wanjala and Njehia, (2014) in their respective study. The average number of males below 1 year and females below 1 year kept by the dairy farmers overall in the present study was found to be less than the reports of
Wanjala and Njehia, (2014) in their study. The average number of young males (1-2 year) was found to be less and the average number of young females (1-2 year) was found to be more in the present study than the reports of
Farooq, (2016) in a study carried out in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. The average number of lactating cows kept by the dairy farmers overall in the present study was found to be more than the reports of
Wani et al., (2004) and
Wanjala and Njehia, (2014) in their respective studies.
Average Standard Adult Units (S.A.U.) kept by the farmers overall was calculated to be 3.79±0.15 in the present study (Table 3), which is more than the reports of
Wani et al., (2004) in a similar study carried out in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The number of males below 1 year and females below 1 year kept by the farmers was almost in equal proportion, but the number of young males (1-2 year) compared to young females (1-2 year) was less in the present study indicating that the farmers sold male animals after 1 year of age but retained female animals for rearing. The reasons for owning of negligible number adult bulls by the farmers in the present study may be attributed to the increased adoption of artificial insemination of cows and insignificant use of bulls for draught purpose in the Srinagar city.
Size of adult cow unit
Overall, 45.45% farmers in the Srinagar district owned only one cow (Table 2). However, 42.53%, 9.91% and 2.11% farmers were classified in groups having 2-4 cows, 5-9 cows and more than 10 cows respectively in the present study. Unlike the present study, majority of the farmers have been reported to own 1 cow only in a study carried by
Farooq (2016) in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.
