Production and Utilization Pattern of Milk and Milk Products in Rajasthan: An Empirical Study

Abstract

The study was aimed to assess the inter-regional differences existing in production and utilization pattern of milk and milk products across regions in Rajasthan. The regions identified for the study were South and South-Eastern plains (S&S-E plains), Transitional & Eastern plains (T&E plains) and North and North-Western plains (N&N-W plains). The data was collected from 120 milk producing households spread across six villages (2 villages from each region) and from Halwais and Creameries, four from each. The data were subjected to tabular analysis and regression for estimating the desired results for answering the derived objectives of the study and understanding the extent of factors affecting the marketed surplus of milk. The results revealed existence of significant differences across regions in the study area. With respect to inter regional differences in production level of milk it was found that the production of milk was highest in T&E plains region with production of 29.58 litres per day per household followed by 11.85 litres per day per household in N&N-W plains and 9.35 litres per day per household in S&S-E plains regions. Though marketed surplus is directly proportional to production level, marketed surplus was highest in S&S-E plains,followed by T&E plains and lowest in N&N-W plains. This paper has tried to examine the inter-regional differences existing in Rajasthan in dairy production.