Future Prospects of Smallholder Dairy Production: Pragmatic Evidence from Crop-Livestock Farming Systems of an Economically Transforming State in India

Abstract

In the context of structural transformation of Indian economy, we examined the patterns of income, migration, milk marketing, dairy trends and future plans at the household level in Tamil Nadu state in south India. The study finds that majority of the dairy households in various farming systems have poor landholdings; belong to low or middle income classes; have one migrant in their families, and diversified sources of income. Given this backdrop, continuing dairy activity in the near future differed based on farming system and market opportunities. The majority were not willing to motivate the next generation to take up dairying as a profession.