Inter-regional disparity in milk production and its determinants in rural Punjab

This study was conducted to assess the extent of inter-household disparities in the milk production in all the five zones of the Punjab state. The higher extent of inequalities in milk production across households was observed in case of landless households as compared to landholders in zone II, III and IV. The higher extent of inequalities in milk production revealed the scope of improvement in milk production by enlarging the herd size of households associated with lower deciles and increasing the proportion of buffaloes in case of zone I. In case of zone II, an improvement in herd size, crossbred cows, lactating animals and productivity of milch animals in the households characterized with lower deciles can go a long way to improve the milk production per household. The inclusion of lactating animals in the households characterized with lower deciles would decrease the inequalities in the productivity of milch animals, which would in turn improve the milk production in zone IV. So for as zone V is concerned, the larger herd size with more productive animals was found to be the main cause of higher inequalities in land owning households as compared to landless households.