A study was carried out to compare the socio-economic and personal characteristics of commercial dairy farms/owners of north and south Gujarat. The data were collected from specialized dairy farms, each from the north and south Gujarat. Ten specialized dairy farms with a herd size of more than 40 heads were selected randomly from Sabarkantha and Banaskantha districts as a sample of north Gujarat agro-climatic region and 10 farms were selected from Surat, Bharuch and Navsari districts as a sample from south Gujarat agro-climatic zone. The data were collected from dairy farm owners by administering the questionnaire. The results showed that the majority (60%) of dairy farms had livestock along with agriculture as main source of income, whereas 40% respondents had only livestock enterprise as a main source of income. Only 15% of dairy farms had other non-agricultural activities or business together with livestock. The percentage of dairy farms that had other business together with livestock was slightly higher in south region. The study revealed that majority of the respondents (55%) were of the middle age group, 40% were graduates, and 75% had experience in dairy farming for 5-10 years. Regarding the benefits of subsidy, most of the respondents availed subsidy for various farm-related purposes. About 80% of the dairy farms had taken subsidy for livestock in the north region compared to only 30% of the dairy farms in south Gujarat.

A study was carried out to compare the breeding and calf rearing practices of modern specialized dairy farms of north and south Gujarat. The data was collected from ten specialized dairy farms, each from the north and south Gujarat. The study revealed that farms of the southern region mostly reared buffaloes, which relied on natural service, whereas northern farms mostly reared cows, and AI was more popular. Around 22.2 and 16.7% of dairy farms preferred pedigreed and sex-sorted semen from the private sector, respectively. Most of the dairy farms (60%) purchased frozen semen doses from the co-operative sector. About 20% of dairy farms used sex-sorted semen at the price of Rs. 2100-3000 per dose. One farm from the north and another one from south were using Delaval® heat detector system. The majority (75%) of the dairy farms adopted the practice of colostrum feeding by allowing for natural suckling. The majority (70%) of the dairy farms provided first colostrum feeding within 2 to 4 hours of calf birth. Some dairy farms (20%) possessed individual calf boxes. From the research finding, it can be concluded that artificial insemination was more famous in north Gujarat. Many specialized dairy farms of north Gujarat were adopting most advanced breeding practices by the use of sex-sorted and pedigreed semen of private companies to produce an offspring of the desired sex, high milk yielding potential and healthy one.