Constraint Analysis in Adopting Mastitis Preventing Technologies in Rural Areas of Punjab, India

Abstract

Mastitis is considered to be one of the expensive diseases affecting the profitability of milch animals through production losses. Various mastitis preventive techniques such as teat dip (TD) and mastitis diagnostic kits (MDK) are recommended to prevent intra-mammary infections and diagnosis at sub-clinical stage. Despite these innovations, very low adoption has been observed at field level, leading to higher prevalence of clinical mastitis. To understand the constrains faced by the dairy farmers in adopting mastitis preventing technologies, a cross-sectional study was carried out in six districts of Punjab, India. The responses were collected through personal interview schedule from 600 dairy farmers selected through multistage random sampling technique. The constraint analysis by Garret's Ranking Technique (GRT) revealed that lack of awareness about the technology, lack of technical knowledge and technical skill, inability to take decisions are the major constraints hindering the implementation of simple beneficial technologies. This study identified a dire need of extensive extension efforts to aware the farmers about their major problems at farms and scientific dairy farming technologies. Extension education can play a pivotal role to motivate farmers at individual, group and mass level for accelerating technology use to achieve optimum and sustainable quality production for maintaining social, economical and psychological welfare of society.