Abstract:
Dairy sector is the most important of all livestock sub sectors and it has
great impact on the rural economy. The domestic milk production only constitutes about
26 percent of the country's requirement. A field survey was conducted to find out the
performance of Mahintha Chinthana's dairy village cattle breeds compare to local cattle
breeds in Batticaloa District Hundred and fifty dairy village farmers were selected from
IS dairy villages in the Batticaloa district. Data were collected through a pre-tested
structured questionnaire on socio economic condition, details of dairy cattle,
management practices, problems faced by the dairy farmers and extension services.
Fifty six percent of the dairy village farmers were small holders and 35% were
medium size holders. Almost 42% of the respondents practiced fully intensive rearing
system while 39% were adopting tethering system for improved cattle breeds; in case of
local breeds those were 5% and 29% respectively. But 62% were adopting semi
intensive system. Enough concentrates were given for improved breeds and local
breeds were only 49% and 5% respectively. Average milk production was 1.29
1/animal/day from improved breeds and 4.25 1/animal/day from local breeds. Nearly
12% of the farmers have been newly adopted to pasture and fodder production.
Constraints reported by the farmers were high cost for concentrate feeds, low price for
milk, lack of grasses and grass land, and lack of credit facilities. The study concluded
that the management systems were very poor for Mahintha Chinthana's improved
breeds in some aspects such as rearing system and feeding practices. The Mahintha
Chinthana's improved cattle breeds would perform better if the management aspects
could be improved.
