Socio-economic profile of dairy farmers of Nanded district of Maharashtra and constraints confronted by them in animal husbandry practices

The present study was undertaken in Nanded district of Maharashtra with a sample size of 120 dairy farmers from three blocks. Two villages from each block and 20 respondents (who had at least two milch animals at the time of study) from each village were selected randomly. Statistical measures used were mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage, cumulative square root frequency (CSRT) and Garrett ranking technique. Garrett ranking method was used for ranking of the constraints in adoption of recommended dairy farming practices. Majority (60.83%) of the respondents belonged to the middle age group (35 to 50 years); 35.83 per cent were illiterate and 60.00 per cent belonged to medium family size category (5 to 7 members). Majority (83.37%) of the dairy farmers perceived that the high cost of medicines was the major constraint and non-availability of veterinary staff (67.79%) and veterinary medicines (65.42%) were the second and third major constraints.