Among the different forms of livestock farming, dairying is considered as a "treasure" of the Indian rural economy. For the design and implementation of support programmes to promote dairy farming for rural development and for adoption of new technologies in dairy, profile of the dairy farmers is an important factor in developing countries like India. By considering this aspect the study was undertaken in Hisar district of Haryana. Among the 60 dairy farmers 73.3 per cent of respondents were middle aged with mean age of about 43 years. The respondents had fairly good formal education with mean value of 4.23 which indicates that majority (96.6%) of dairy farmers were literate. Family structure of dairy farmers was 65.0 per cent of the respondents belonged to joint families and 35.0 per cent to nuclear families. The family land holding ranged from 1 to 6 acres with a mean 2.60 acres. 43.3 per cent of the respondents preferred to have a herd size of 3-5 dairy animals. The respondents in general had poor social participation with mean value as low as 0.16. Further, majority of the respondents had low level of extension contact with mean value of 2.23. Mass media exposure of dairy farmers was also low with mean value of 2.65 which indicates majority (73.3%) of dairy farmers had low level of mass media exposure. However, economic motivation of dairy farmer was fairly high with mean value of 22.56. The dairy farmers in general had medium risk orientation with mean value 18.28.

The present investigation was conducted on records of 345 Murrah buffaloes maintained at Buffalo Research Centre (BRC), Hisar distributed over 20 years (1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012) to compare progeny of 61 sires. Three sire evaluation procedures [ordinary least squares (OLS), regressed least squares (RLS), and best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP)] based on estimated breeding value of phase traits such as ascending phase milk yield (APY), peak phase milk yield (PPY),descending phase milk yield (DPY)and stayablity trait such as stayablity life (STAYAB) in Murrah buffalo. The results indicated that sire number 26 had the highest merit computed by OLS, RLS and sire number 2 had the highest merit computed by BLUP method for APY. Product-moment correlations were comparatively lower than those of rank correlations barring a few exceptions. When comparison was made on the basis of coefficient of skewness, BLUP was found superior for APY, PPY, and DPY. When comparison was made on the basis of coefficient of kurtosis, OLS was better for APY and DPY whereas RLS was found superior for PPY and STAYAB. When coefficient of Determination, was considered OLS was found to be more accurate followed by RLS method for all the traits, whereas RLS method was most appropriate when coefficient of variation was considered.

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ABSTRACT...... Animal keeping is an integral part of rural life and is considered a pathway for women empowerment. Rural women play a key role in livestock management. However it is often argued that their contribution are undermined, underestimated and their decision making power are highly limited.The knowledge and skill of women dairy occupation and their participation in decision making certainly affects their efficiency in work and in the development of dairy enterprise. The study was conducted in Hisar district of Haryana state to assess the participation of women in decision making regarding animals and in animal husbandry development programmes. The respondents were selected using simple lottery method and 30 women farmers were chosen from each four selected villages thus constituting a sample size of 120. It was found that their participation in different areas varied. They can give only suggestions to their spouse in decision making regarding animals' purchase and sale, insurance, loans, participation in support programmes (like trainings) and not taking decisions independently. Only 1.67 per cent of women were found beneficiaries of training in last 5 years. None of the respondent women was a beneficiary of Composite Murrah Development Scheme and establishment of high value dairy units. And around 5 per cent women visit the hospital for treatment as compared to 95 per cent men and only 15 per cent women were beneficiaries of loan as compared to 85 per cent men. More attention should be given to rural women to build their capacities in decision making. Moreover appropriate ways and approaches should be adopted for providing equal access to women in Animal Husbandry Development Programmes. ARTICLE CHRONICLE