Housing and other Managemental Practices Adopted by Different Categories of Dairy Farmers in Kadapa District of Andhra Pradesh

Dairy farming is one of the important activities among the rural farmers as it provides sustainable income and reduces unemployment to a large number of rural families. The present study was conducted to collect the information on housing managemental practices adopted by different categories of dairy farmers in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh. A total of 240 dairy farmers were selected through multi stage random sampling technique and an exploratory research design was applied by using pretested interview schedule. The study revealed that majority of the farmers (50.41%) housed their dairy animals inside dwelling house due to non availability of housing materials. About 82.08% of dairy farmers adopted loose housing system and used galvanized iron sheets (57.91%) as roofing material. Most of the farmers constructed the shed with mud floor (45.83%) followed by concrete (40.83%)) and brick floor (13.30%). Majority of the farmers (77.91%) have not provided drainage facility since they preferred to earthen floor. The manger was not provided by majority of the farmers and feeding the animals on the ground (40.83%). Significant number of farmers provided adequate space (85.83%) and light and ventilation (57.91%) to the animals. None of the farmers practised grooming of dairy animals. A considerable number of farmers have provided water trough (76.67%) but not provided bedding material (63.33%) to their animals. Only 26.25% of farmers segregated the pregnant animals before calving. The managemental care during summer (34.17%) was not practised by majority of the farmers, but contrary to these findings, about 65% of the farmers adopted cold management by providing bedding material to the animals. Hence it can be concluded that adoption of suitable improved housing managemental practices will substantially help in increasing the production as well as income generation of the farming community.