Opinion of Dairy Farmers towards Lay Inseminators and the Reasons behind Dependency on Them

The present study was conducted in Karnal district of Haryana to obtain the opinion of dairy farmers towards the services provided by lay inseminators (LIs) and the reasons behind dependency on them. LIs were educated unemployed youth who provide basic animal health services particularly artificial insemination after receiving training or learnt this practice from experts. The data were collected randomly from 30 LIs, 150 beneficiaries (5 beneficiaries/LIs) and 30 professionals of Karnal in Haryana with semi-structured interview schedule. After analysis and interpretation, favourable opinion of dairy farmers towards LIs was found. Dairy farmers were found to agree that LIs arrive on time for providing services (51.33%), deliver effective services (56%), offer reasonable charges (48%), are sensitive towards dairy farmers’ problem (50.68%) and are available round the clock (55.53%). The most important reason behind dependency of dairy farmers towards LIs was found to be doorstep services provided by LIs.