A Comparison of Cost of Milk Production among Beneficiaries and Non-beneficiaries of Dairy Co-operatives in Meghalaya Kh Rishikanta Singh, Chauhan A. K., Kadian K. S. Dairy Economics Statistics and Management Division, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal – 132 001, Haryana Online published on 9 October, 2012. Abstract Cost of milk production forms a core issue in deciding the profitability and sustainability of diary enterprise and it is more important for hilly and tribal areas where availability of inputs is a challenge. The present study, conducted in the Meghalaya state, is based on the primary data collected from 100 dairy co-operative society beneficiaries and 100 non-beneficiaries selected from four districts, viz. East Khasi, Ri-Bhoi, Jaintia and West Garo hills. The households were classified into small, medium and large categories based on the number of milch animals. The study has shwon that milk production and productivity of beneficiary households are significantly higher than of non-beneficiaries. The average cost per litre of milk production for milking crossbred cows has been worked out to be significantly higher for non-beneficiaries ( 15.40) than for beneficiaries 12.67 group. Consequently, beneficiaries get about 19 per cent more return compared to non-beneficiaries. The cost of per litre milk production decreases with increase in herd-size in the case of beneficiaries while for non-beneficiaries, maximum cost was being incurred by small herd-size owners and lowest by medium herd-size owners. Top Keywords Dairy sector, dairy co-operative society, milk production, cost and returns, Meghalaya. Top |