Dairy Farming : A good source for upliftment of marginal and small farmers socio-economic status

Indian economy is based on agriculture because more than 75% population lived in rural areas of village. A major farming community of India comes under small and marginal farming community, where the size of land holding is very low to achieve the standards of livelihood. India is a land of small farmers, with 650 million of its more than 1 billion people living on the land and 80 per cent farmers owning less than 2 ha of land. India, since over 700 million of India’s population lives in villages and their principal source of livelihood is agriculture, comprising crop and animal husbandry, forestry, fisheries, agro-processing and agri-business. Therefore, accelerated progress in enhancing the productivity, profitability, stability, and sustainability of the major farming systems is the best safety net against hunger and poverty. According to the WHO more than 50% of child population is effected by the malnutrition. Dairy products are major sources of cheap and nutritional food and it is acceptable source of animal protein for the Indian vegetarian segment, particularly among the landless, marginal, small farmers, women & children.