Women contribute 60% of labor in Indian agriculture but their work remains largely invisible. Dairying provides opportunities for women's empowerment by allowing them to control resources and income. However, women face challenges like low milk yields, lack of preservation facilities, inadequate veterinary services and financing. Empowering women through dairying requires efforts like establishing milk cooperatives that provide fair prices and training, improving access to loans, strengthening animal healthcare, and promoting value-added dairy products. When supported, dairying can generate sustained income and improve women's socioeconomic status.

1. Women empowerment
through Dairying in India
Amrik Hazra
3rd year
F/O Dairy Technology

2. What is women
empowerment?
Women's empowerment
refers to the ability
for women to enjoy
their right to control
and benefit from
resources, assets,
income as well as the
ability to manage
risk and improve their
economic status and
well being.

3. Women and Dairying
 Women contribute to nearly 60% of labour in farm production in
India.
 Despite the fact that women in India share most of the work in
animal production, their work remains mostly invisible as it
confines to homesteads.
 Women involved in dairy farming include collection of
fodder/cultivation of fodder, grazing the animals, feeding &
watering, cleaning the animals and shed, milking and marketing of
milk.
 These operations are flexible and staggered depending upon the
convenience of the family members.

5. Low milk production, shortage of milk
preserving facility
Issues connected with support
thorough micro-finance
Rural people lack knowledge of
livestock diseases
Veterinary services are very low
sometimes nil
Artificial insemination facilities are not
available
Poor housing to dairy animals
High cost of production
Dairy cooperatives are not reaching
vast mass of rural population

6. Means to empower women
United efforts of these SHGs, Government and NGOs are
required to fight against the constraints of dairy farming
practice.
Setting up milk cooperative societies especially for women, so
that they get proper market for their milk with reasonable
cost.
Milk cooperative societies should conduct skilled oriented training for
women for better management of milch animals and programs coupled
with importance, techniques of clean milk production and preservation.
Contd..

7. Easy availability of short term & long term loans with reasonable
interest will help especially women to generate more income
from dairying.
The animal husbandry department must conduct vaccination/
deworming / health care programme with the help of scientists to
improve knowledge among farmers
Promoting dairy enterprise through transfer of technologies improved farm
financing supply chain management & better market access
Value addition to traditional milk products through application of new
processes, packaging and mechanised manufacturing systems

8. “
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9. Conclusion
 As Women play a key role in animal,
farm and home management
dairying can be the best solution to
generate family income levels.
Successful dairy husbandry
enterprise not only improves the
socio-economic status of rural
women, but also assures a sustained
and assured means of income to
supplement their income from the
main enterprise resulting women to
become modular dairy
entrepreneurs.