Modern and well established scientific principles, practices and skills should be used to obtain

maximum economic benefits from dairy farming. Some of the major norms and recommended
practices are as follows:

I. Housing:
1. Construct shed on dry, properly raised ground.
2. Avoid water-logging, marshy and heavy rainfall areas.
3. The walls of the sheds should be 1.5 to 2 meters high.
4. The walls should be plastered to make them damp proof.
5. The roof should be 3-4 metres high.
6. The cattle shed should be well ventilated.
7. The floor should be pucca/hard, even non-slippery impervious, well sloped (3 cm per metre)
and properly drained to remain dry and clean.
8. Provide 0.25 metre broad, pucca drain at the rear of the standing space.
9. A standing space of 2 x 1.05 metre for each animal is needed.
10. The manger space should be 1.05 metre with front height of 0.5 metre and depth of 0.25
metre.
11. The corners in mangers, troughs, drains and walls should be rounded for easy cleaning.
12. Provide 5-10 sq. metre loaf space for each animal.
13.Provide proper shade and cool drinking water in summer.
14.In winter keep animals indoor during night and rain.
15. Provide individual bedding daily.
16. Maintain sanitary condition around shed.
17.Control external parasites (ticks, flies etc.) by spraying the pens, sheds with Malathion or
Copper sulphate solution.
18. Drain urine into collection pits and then to the field through irrigation channels.
19.Dispose of dung and urine properly. A gobar gas plant will be an ideal way. Where gobar gas
plant is not constructed, convert the dung alongwith bedding material and other farm wastes into
compost.
20.Give adequate space for the animals. (The housing space requirement of crossbred cattle in
various categories/age-groups is given in Annexure-VII).
II. Selection of Animal:
1. Immediately after release of the loan purchase the stock from a reliable breeder or from
nearest livestock market.
2.Select healthy, high yielding animals with the help of bank's technical officer, veterinary/animal
husbandry officer of State government/ Zilla Parishad, etc.
3. Purchase freshly calved animals in their second/third lactation.
4. Before purchasing, ascertain actual milk yield by milking the animal three times
consecutively.
5.Identify the newly purchased animal by giving suitable identification mark (ear tagging or
tattooing).
6.Vaccinate the newly purchased animal against disease.
7. Keep the newly purchased animal under observation for a period of about two weeks and
then mix with the general herd.
8. Purchase a minimum economical unit of two milch animals.
9. Purchase the second animal/second batch after 5-6 months from the purchase of first animal.
10.As buffaloes are seasonal calvers purchase them during July to February.
11. As far as possible purchase the second animal when the first animal is in its late stage of
lactation and is about to become dry, thereby maintaining continuity in milk production vis-a-vis
income. This will ensure availability of adequate funds for maintaining the dry animals.
12.Follow judicious culling and replacement of animals in a herd.
13.Cull the old animals after 6-7 lactations.

III. Feeding of Milch Animals

1 Feed the animals with best feeds and fodders. (Feeding schedule is given in Annexure VIII).
2. Give adequate green fodder in the ration.
3. As far as possible, grow green fodder on your land wherever available.
4. Cut the fodder at the right stage of their growth.
5. Chaff roughage before feeding.
6. Crush the grains and concentrates.
7. The oil cakes should be flaky and crumbly.
8. Moisten the concentrate mixture before feeding.
9.Provide adequate vitamins and minerals. Provide salt licks besides addition of mineral mixture
to the concentrate ration.
10. Provide adequate and clean water.
11.Give adequate exercise to the animals. Buffaloes should be taken for wallowing daily. In
case this is not possible sprinkle sufficient water more particularly during summer months.
12. To estimate the daily feed requirement remember that the animals consume about 2.5 to 3.0
percent of their body weight on dry matter basis.

IV. Milking of Animals

1. Milk the animals two to three times a day.
2. Milk at fixed times.
3.Milk in one sitting within eight minutes.
4. As far as possible, milking should be done by the same person regularly.
5. Milk the animal in a clean place.
6. Wash the udder and teat with antiseptic lotions/lukewarm water and dry before milking.
7. Milker should be free from any contagious diseases and should wash his hands with
antiseptic lotion before each milking.
8. Milking should be done with full hands, quickly and completely followed by stripping.
9. Sick cows/buffaloes should be milked at the end to prevent spread of infection.

V. Protection against Diseases

1.Be on the alert for signs of illness such as reduced feed intake, fever, abnormal discharge or
unusual behaviour.
2. Consult the nearest veterinary aid centre for help if illness is suspected.
3.Protect the animals against common diseases.
4.In case of outbreak of contagious disease, immediately segregate the sick, in-contact and the
healthy animals and take necessary disease control measures. (Vaccination schedule is given
in Annexure IX).
5.Conduct periodic tests for Brucellosis, Tuberculosis, Johne's disease, Mastitis etc.
6.Deworm the animals regularly.
7. Examine the faeces of adult animals to detect eggs of internal parasites and treat the animals
with suitable drugs.
8.Wash the animals from time to time to promote sanitation.
VI. Breeding Care
1.Observe the animal closely and keep specific record of its coming in heat, duration of heat,
insemination, conception and calving.
2. Breed the animals in time.
3. The onset of oestrus will be within 60 to 80 days after calving.
4. Timely breeding will help achieving conception within 2 to 3 months of calving.
5. Breed the animals when it is in peak heat period (i.e. 12 to 24 hours of heat).
6. Use high quality semen preferably frozen semen of proven sires/bulls.

VII. Care during Pregnancy

Give special attention to pregnant cows two months before calving by providing adequate
space, feed, water etc.

VIII. Marketing of Milk

1.Marketing milk immediately after it is drawn keeping the time between production and
marketing of the milk to the minimum.
2.Use clean utensils and handle milk in hygienic way.
3. Wash milk pails/cans/utensils thoroughly with detergent and finally rinse with chloride
solution.
4.Avoid too much agitation of milk during transit.
5.Transport the milk during cool hours of the day.

IX. Care of Calves

1. Take care of new born calf.
2.Treat/disinfect the navel cord with tincture of iodine as soon as it is cut with a sharp knife.
3.Feed colostrum to calf.
4.Assist the calf to suckle if it is too weak to suckle on its own within 30 minutes of calving.
5.In case it is desired to wean the calf immediately after birth, then feed the colostrum in bucket.
6.Keep the calf separately from birth till two months of age in a dry clean and well ventilated
place.
7.Protect the calves against extreme weather conditions, particularly during the first two months.
8.Group the calves according to their size.
9.Vaccinate calves.
10. Dehorn the calves around 4 to 5 days of age for easy management when they grow.
11.Dispose of extra calves not to be reared/maintained for any specific purpose as early as
possible, particularly the male calves.
12. The female calves should be properly reared.

Physical Characters of Murrah

1. Body : Sound built, heavy and wedge shaped.

2. Head : Comparatively small.

3. Face : Comparatively long.

4. Neck : Comparatively long.

5. Body colour : Jet-black.

6. White markings on face and leg extremities may be there (2, 3), but are not generally preferred.

7. Eyes : Should not be walled i.e. the cornea should not have whiteness.

8. Tail : Long reaching upto fetlock joint (2, 3, and 6) with black or white switch upto (maximum)
8.0 inches (4).

9. Horns : Different from other breeds of buffaloes; short, tight, turning backward and upward and
finally spirally curving inward. The horns should be somewhat flattened. As the age advances
the horns get loosened slightly but spiral curves increases.

10. Limbs : Comparatively short but strong built.

11. Skin : Soft, smooth with scanty hairs as compared to other buffaloes.

12. Udder : Fully developed, drooping.

13. Teats : Equally distributed over the udder but hind teats are longer than fore teats.

14. Loin : Broader and sliding forward.

15. Body weight : The average body weight of males, 550 Kg and the females, 450-Kg.
 16. Height : The average height at withers; male: 1.42 meter; female: 1.32 meter.

17. Age at fist calving : 3 years but we have also the buffaloes, which calved at 3 years with good
milk production.

18. Inter-calving period : 400 to 500 days.

19. Lactation period : 300 days. (with minimum of ~230 days recorded under top quality Murrah)

20. Daily lactation in peak period : 14 to 15 litter but upto 31.5 Kg milk production had also been
recorded. The elite Murrah buffalo produces above 18-litter milk per day. A peak milk yield of
31.5 kg in a day has been recorded from a champion Murrah buffalo in the All India Milk Yield
Competition conducted by the Government of India.

21. Dry period : About three months. But less than three may be there.

22. Gestation period : 310 days (average)

How to increase milk yield and fat percent of a dairy cow/buffalo?

The milk yield and fat percentage is based on genetic potential of a buffalo or a cow. You cannot
increase the milk yield beyond it’s genetic potential. But most dairy farmers in India, do not even get the
actual potential milk yield from their dairy animals. The primary reason for this malnutrition as well as
the dairy cattle are put into various stress factors.

So the easiest way to increase the milk yield to address the nutritional requirements as well as address
the stress factors.

Address Nutritional Factors

 Provide 20 to 25 kgs of green fodder. Don’t just provide only one variety of green fodder –
try to mix legumes such as hedge lucerne, cow pea along with regular fodder such as C04,
Sorghum, etc. Chaff the green fodder – this will increase the nutritional intake as well as reduce
wastage.

 Provide 10 kgs of dry fodder. It is advised to provide dry fodder after evening milking.

 Provide 4 kgs of concentrate feed – increase this quantity for high milkers. Don’t use just 1
variety of dhana – try to mix 1 oil cake such as cotton seed cake, groundnut cake or whatever
 locally available, 1 grain as maize powder and 1 husk such as black gram husk, paddy husk, etc.
Soaking this overnight will ferment the feed and increase the nutritional intake.

 Provide 50 grams mineral mixture – this is very important. If you do not provide provide
mineral mixture it will result in micro-nutrient deficiency which will decrease milk yield as well
cause reproductive issues.

 Provide 30 liters of hygienic/clean water.

Address Stress Factors

 Follow exact routine everyday.

 Wash the animals twice a day.

 Make sure the dung is cleared thrice a day.

 Make sure the animals are not beaten or threatened.

 Make sure there no mosquitoes in the shed.

 Always milk at the same time and by the same person.

 If the milker takes too long to milk the entire milk, then also milk yield will reduce.

 Make sure to deworm the animals regularly. Worms in the stomach will drastically reduce milk
yield.

 Do not tie animals in direct sunlight. Allowing the animal to freely graze for at least few hours
will increase the metabolism and also the animal will be happy – a happy animal produces more
milk.

 Buffaloes love water – if you have access to a pond, allowing them to wallow in the pond will
have amazing effect and will result in longer lactation period and improve reproductive
efficiency.

Basically, address all needs of a cow or a buffalo. When you do that, the cow or buffalo will give
maximum milk that it can produce as well as milk fat and SNF will also increase.
How much profit can I earn from one Murrah Buffalo?

It depends on multiple factors such as purchase price of the animal, milk yield, milk sales price, feeding
costs, worker charges, medicines, etc. The calculation can be for a lactation and cannot be directly
derived for a single day or a month because a Murrah Buffalo is a living being and not a milk yielding
machine!. So let’s calculate for a lactation and then derive your profit or loss for a month.

Say if you purchased a second lactation Murrah Buffalo which yields 12 liters per day for Rs 80,000 with
an expected yield of 2400 liters per lactation . Assume the lactation period (the period when the buffalo
gives milk) as 270 days and a dry period (the period when the buffalo is not giving milk) of 120 days. Lets
say your selling price of milk is Rs 45 liter so total selling price per lactation is 2400 x 45 = Rs 108,000.

Now lets calculate the expenses for 390 days ( 270 lactation days + 120 dry days)

Green fodder = 25 kgs x .5 paise x 390 = Rs 4,625

Dry Fodder = 10 kgs x 1 Rs x 390 = Rs 3,900
Feed concentrate/dhana (avg) = 4 kgs x Rs 15 x 390= Rs 23,400
Labour charges (1 worker for 10 buffaloes @Rs 9,000/month) = Rs 30 x 390 = Rs 11,700
Interest for Rs 80,000 investment (18% rate) = Rs 40 x 390 = Rs 15,600
Medicines, mineral mixture, etc = Rs 10 x 390 = Rs 3,900
Miscellaneous = Rs 5,875
So total expenses is Rs 69,000
So Profit is Rs 108,000 – Rs 69 ,000 = Rs 39,000 per cycle (13 months).
So for profit for 1 month is Rs 3,000.

The value of calves and sale of dung is not included in this calculation. If you take good care of the
calves, it will cover for the replacement cost of the buffalo at the end of it’s productive phase.

You can frankly optimize many variables and increase your profit. For instance, if you directly sell the
milk you can get a better price for milk. If you don’t borrow money to buy buffalo that also will increase
your cash flow. If you do all the work then you can eliminate worker salary.

On the other side you can also make losses, for instance the buffalo can have a shorter lactation, buffalo
could die, the calf could die or the buffalo might take longer to conceive for next cycle or the buffalo
might have reproductive issues and not conceive at all. So all these factors can lead to losses. In some
places, you milk sale price might not even be Rs 45 but there are lot of places where the demand for
buffalo milk is so good that the price is as high Rs 70.

Conclusion is that Murrah buffalo is not a machine and so your profit or loss depends on how well you
take care of the buffalo, keep the input costs low and sell milk for a higher price. And also few factors
such as disease attacks are beyond your control.

How to start a dairy farm?

Lot of folks ask me on the steps to start a dairy farm. This post explains the process to successfully start
a 30 buffalo farm.

Whether it is dairy farm or for that matter any venture – you need to get your basics right.

 Before starting: You need to have a real desire and be passionate about what you wanted to do.
This is especially important for starting a dairy farm because it is very labor intensive and
requires lots of patience with little support from society. And also you need to discuss with your
family and have the support from family.

 Acquire Knowledge: Businesses are either inherited from parents or you work in that line and
then start off on your own. But if you did not inherit or work in a farm – I suggest attend a
training on dairy farming, visit both successful and failed farms and then work in a dairy farm for
1 month. By end of this exercise, you will understand if you really want to start a dairy farm.

 Arrange Funds: You need to have the money to start the farm. Consider land, shed construction,
farm equipment, grass cultivation, purchasing animals, etc. You can approach banks to get loans
and there is also a subsidy from NABARD – but it’s not easy to get dairy loans from banks. To get
a dairy loan, you need to prepare a dairy project report. Check this link for more details on how
much it costs to start a 30 buffalo dairy farm.

 Farm Location: If you don’t already own land, it will be almost financially nonviable to start a
dairy farm as the land rates are very expensive. Farm location should ideally be within 10 kms
distance from a town to easily sell the milk and by-products.
 Dig a Bore well and get electric connections: You need a 3 phase bore well for irrigating the
green grass in 4 acres and a single phase bore well for farm water use. If you have power cuts,
then you need to small generator for running the single phase motor.

 Start Construction: For a 30 buffalo farm, you need a shed (75 feet x 30 feet), 1 small calve
shed, 2 worker rooms (12 feet x 10 feet), 1 dhana/feed room (12 feet x 10 feet), and a room for
yourself (12 feet x 10 feet) .

 Cultivate Green Fodder: For 30 buffaloes, you need to cultivate grass in 4 acres of green grass. If
you good water source to irrigate then 3.5 acres should be enough. Basically each buffalo needs
25 kgs of green grass per day which means 750 kgs of grass per day for 30 buffaloes. In a year,
you need 270 tons of grass (750 kgs x 365 days). You need to select the right type of fodder
variety – i would suggest to go for a mix of APBN or C04 or C05 in 2 acres. ABPN/CO4/CO5 are
propagated through slips and there are no seeds for this. They produce 80 to 90 tons of grass
per acre in a year. The second variety can be multicut sorghum (COFS29 or COFS31) in 1 acre –
these are propagated through seeds and can will last for 3 years and generates 70 to 80 tons per
year. The variety can be a high protein variety like Hedge Lucerne which is propagated through
seeds can generate 50 to 60 tons per year. Grass cultivation should be done 60 to 70 days prior
to animals arrive at the farm. So this task should be taken up parallel to construction work.

 Purchase Machinery and tools: You will need a chaff cutter, a brush cutter, a diesel power
generator (if you have power cuts) and other tools such as milk cans, etc.

 Procure Dry Fodder: You need to procure dry fodder (vari gaddi/kutti) for up to 1 year. The
quantity will depend on the quality of the dry fodder. The prices are usually cheaper after
paddy/maize harvest season and it will expensive in summer months. If it is a drought year, then
also the price will be higher.

 Milk sales tie-up: You should have already tied up with someone to directly sell the milk or give
it to milk agency (pala kendram). Try to find a good buyer such as a hotel, sweet shop, coffee
shop and direct consumers – direct selling will increase your profit. But do not supply for credit
(appu/kadan) – many people tend to be very late on payments or cheat.

 Hire Workers: This is one of the toughest things as the workers tend to leave without even
informing. Make sure you have the right workers and you have backup plan to handle if they
 leave without notice. For every 10 buffaloes, you need 1 worker. If you are getting bihar
workers, then you need at least 2 of them or else they will not stay. Make sure they are settled
in farm before you go for purchasing buffaloes.

 Purchase Animals: In our strategy, let’s buy buffaloes in 2 batches. In first batch, buy 19 murrah
buffaloes and 1 bull. After 5 months, buy second batch of 10 buffaloes. We are buying 20
buffaloes in first batch because we have 2 bihar workers or else they will not stay and if we buy
10 buffaloes and have 2 workers you will lose money in salaries. Purchasing a bull is a must in
first batch. You would have already decided where to buy the Murrah buffaloes from – visit
them at least once before you buy. If you are new to dairy farming, take an experienced dairy
farmer with you when purchasing animals.

 1st Week: If the animals were purchased from far away distances – for instance if you had
purchased it in haryana and transported it to Andhra – then they will take substantial time to
recover from transportation stress. Calves would have died, loss of body weight and also
undergo emotional stress as the climate, feed, workers are all different. Do veterinary check up
as soon as they arrive. Wash 2 times a day. Feed good concentrate feed and mineral mixture.
Give 20 kgs of chopped green fodder and 10 kgs of dry fodder. Give drinking water 3 times a
day. Address all stress factors such as mosquitoes, unclean shed, avoid beating, avoid tying too
close to each other, etc.

 3rd Week: You should have reached a stable state by 3rd week. Buffaloes should have regained
weight and milk yield. Workers should be working in a clearly defined routine. Your total milk
yield should be around 190 liters per day. Expect a failure of at least 1 buffalo – stopped giving
milk because calf died or for whatever reason. You should consider yourself lucky if all of them
are in stable state or unlucky if you have more than 1 failure.

 3rd Month: The milk yield will start to decline – it will be probably around 170 liters now. Start
identifying heat and cross with bull as well as artificially inseminate with good semen – very
very important task.

 5th Month: Now the milk yield will be around 140 liters. By now if 15 out of 19 buffaloes are
pregnant again and have around 14 calves alive then you should consider yourself a success and
will survive in this business. Now it is time to purchase second batch of 10 more buffaloes and
add 1 more bihar worker. On the other hand, if you have drastic drop in milk yield, if most of
 your buffaloes are not pregnant, have serious worker problems, then it is time to evaluate, if
you want to quit because you will be heavily losing money by feeding dry buffaloes.

 6th Month: Now the milk yield should be around 220 liters (120 from first batch of 19 and 100
liters from second batch of 10). Now all of the 19 buffaloes from first batch should be pregnant
– if any buffalo is not pregnant then check for reproductive issues and start giving medicines.
Now explore the option of making small batches of by-products such as ghee, khoa or paneer
and directly sell it to sweet shops and hotels.

 8th Month: Now the milk yield should be around 170 liters (90 from first batch and 80 from
second batch). Now you should start observing heat for second batch and crossing them with
bull as well as artificially inseminate them. If you still have any dry animal which is not pregnant
from first batch, you should sell it (mostly for half the price) and buy a new buffalo.

 11 month: Now the yield will be around 70 liters (10 liters from first batch and 60 liters from
second batch). By now all of your second batch buffaloes should also be pregnant. From 11th to
13th months will be very tough because the all of the buffaloes are in early to late pregnancies.
You need to be prepared for out of pocket expenses during this period as you have large herd
with low milk output.

 13th Month: Basically you are into second year of operation. Now most of your of first batch of
buffaloes should have given birth again and started yielding milk. And also second batch will
nearing end of lactation and should be in mid-pregnancies. From now on, you should strive for a
balance of 20-22 buffaloes in yielding phase and 8–10 buffaloes in dry period. This balance will
allow to maintain a milk yield of around 200 liters. You also need to evaluate your calves – you
need to retain all female calves and get rid of male calves unless if it has breeding potential as a
bull.

 Yearly Income and Expenses: One of the biggest yearly income is sale of manure/dung – a truck
load sells for around Rs 2,500. With 30 buffaloes and 20 calves, you will get around 40 trucks of
dung which will generate an income of 1 lakh. The same amount needs to be spent on
purchasing dry fodder for the entire year.