Cost of milk production among different types of dairy farms in Kerala

The present study was carried out to study the variation in the cost of milk production among different types of dairy farms in Kerala. A stratified multistage random sampling procedure was used to select the area of study and respondents. The farmers/farm households were categorized into small or subsistence farms (1-2 cows), medium (3-10 cows), and large farms (more than 10 cows). When calculated on a milch animal basis, the average costs of production per litre of milk (cost B) were rupees 28.09, 28.49, 25.68, and 27.69 in small, medium, large and overall farms, respectively. The average costs/litre of milk after deduction of imputed family labour (cost A) were 19.93, 22.78, 24.93, and 21.81 in small, medium, large, and overall farms, respectively. It was observed that on the milch animal basis, the average cost/litre of milk (cost B) were 32.51, 34.29, 29.08, and 32.29 in small, medium, large, and overall farms, respectively. The average cost per litre of milk after deduction of imputed family labour cost (cost A) were 22.02, 26.33, 27.08, and 24.34 in small, medium, large, and overall farms, respectively. The present study indicated that the average cost of milk production in the state of Kerala was very high, and the milk price has to be regulated accordingly so that dairy farming becomes a lucrative livelihood opportunity for poor farmers.