International Journal of Agriculture Extension and Social Development

author(s)
Saravanan KP, MS Kannadhasan, K Ayyappan, P Silambarasan and R Nithiaselvi

abstract
Balanced feeding is essential for sustained milk production in high milk producing milch animal cross-bred cattle breed such as Jersey and Holstein Friesian. According to Tamil Nadu state breeding policy 2008, Jersey cross bred cattle is the breed of choice in the plains of Tamil Nadu. The importance of balanced feeding is consistently emphasised by public extension and advisory services (EAS) offering institutions, scientists and extensionists; however, the adoption of balanced feeding practices by the farmers is poor and the study carried out on causes for the poor adoption is meagre. Under this background the study was carried out to examine the profile of dairy farmers; to know the constraints perceived by crossbred Jersey cattle rearing farmers in adoption of balanced feeding and; to seek animal husbandry experts’ strategies to overcome constraints. The study was conducted during May to July 2022 through a well-structured pre-tested interview schedule from 195 dairy farmers in Cauvery delta region which lies on plains of Tamil Nadu. Constraints were analyzed by Weighed Mean Score (WMS) and experts’ strategies were obtained for constraint management. The study found that lack of technical skills on enrichment of paddy straw (WMS 86.49), lack of technical skills on preparation of concentrate ration (WMS 77.78), dearth of technical skills on surplus fodder conservation (WMS 76.41), low knowledge on nutrient contents of fodder sorghum, hedge lucerne and CO 4 (WMS 76.24), poor awareness about feeding of mineral mixture (WMS 72.82), high cost of concentrate feed during unseasonal rain/drought/summer (WMS 71.45) and lack of knowledge on feeding during transition periods (WMS 69.23) as important constraints. Experts suggested the following strategies viz., conducting awareness programme on ration balancing, emphasising local veterinarians to encourage progressive farmers on use of non-conventional feed resources and display ration balancing software applications at public areas to overcome the constraints. Addressing the dairy farmers problems on balanced feedings and the opinions of experts would be helpful to policymakers at the time of policy decision.