74 Indian Res. J. Ext. Edu.

11 (1), January, 2011

Dairy Farmers’ Satisfaction with Dairy Cooperative Societies :

Nishi1, A. K. Sah2, and Ram Kumar3

ABSTRCAT
To assess the dairy farmers’ satisfaction with dairy cooperative societies (DCSs), a research study was conducted
covering eight selected DCSs in Pradeshik Cooperative Dairy Federation (PCDF), Uttar Pradesh. Majority of
member farmers were modest in participating different activities of the DCSs. The average herd size among the
respondents of the study area was seven dairy animals per household. The good quantity of milk produced and sold
by member farmers to the societies indicates the commercial viability of dairy farming in the area. About one third
of the respondents were happy with the functioning of societies. Organisational participation, market potential
and economic motivation were found to have strong influence on the satisfaction level of farmers; however, the
prevailing constraints negatively contributed towards farmers’ satisfaction with the functioning of DCSs.
Keywords: PCDF; DCSs; Dairy farmers;

Uttar Pradesh is largest milk producing state milk and milk products to consumers particularly of the
contributing 18 per cent to the national milk production. urban areas at a reasonable price through its vast
This state also equipped with vast network of network of dairy cooperative societies and milk unions
infrastructure and organizations existing in the dairy throughout the state. Since beginning this organization
sector. Most important and nodal agency of dairy has played important role in providing not only network
development in the state is Pradeshik Cooperative Dairy for milk procurement and marketing throughout the state
Federation (PCDF), which was established in the year but also the technical inputs like Artificial Insemination
1962 for achieving multiple objectives of increasing milk (A.I.), health servic es and field inputs to the dairy
production, processing and marketing of milk/milk farmers through the various dairy development
products and development of infrastructure to promote programmes. In recent years the efficiency in
dairy industry within the state. There were 13,240 village procurement and marketing is reported to be dismal and
level milk producers’ co-operatives societies under at the same time the federation perceived growing
PCDF in the State with a membership of 608.59 challenges of competitiveness in the areas of production
thousand farmers (2004-05). Average milk collections and marketing. While addressing the 34th annual general
in these cooperatives were 986.61 thousand kilograms/ meeting of IRMA, Anand (Gujarat) in the year 2004,
day that was about 4 per cent of all India collection Dr. Kurien stated that the dairy cooperatives have to
under the umbrella of dairy cooperative societies. Liquid improve the quality of their products and services if they
milk marketing in the state is about 3 per cent of total have to compete in the market. The farmers’ satisfaction
milk marketed in India. These statistics are clear with dairy cooperatives is of utmost importance
indication of wide scale network of milk procurement especially when we talk about relevance and utility of
and marketing existing in Uttar Pradesh. The PCDF is services extended by cooperatives in present context.
fulfilling the dual role of increasing income level of rural So, the question arises here is that “the farmer members
milk producers by providing them convenient marketing are satisfied with the functioning of the societies?” In
facilities at their doors and making available good quality this context, present study carried out to assess the level
Indian Res. J. Ext. Edu. 11 (1), January, 2011 75

of farmers’ satisfaction with DCSs and influence Table 1. Profile of member dairy farmers (n=80)
of the characteristics of farmers on their satisfaction S.No. Variables No. %
with DCSs.
1 Age (years)
METHODOLOGY Young (<31) 15 18.75
Middle (31-50) 56 70.00
The study was conducted in purposively selected
Old (> 50) 9 11.25
organization i.e. PCDF, Uttar Pradesh. Out of 31 milk 2 Education
unions under PCDF, 4 milk unions were selected under No formal schooling 8 10.00
stratified proportionate random sampling procedure. On Primary 10 12.50
the basis of Agro-Climatic Zones in U. P. (Ghosh,1991) Middle 20 25.00
the milk unions were classified into western, central and Matriculation 34 42.50
eastern regions under which there are 15, 9 and 7 unions, Intermediate 3 3.75
out of which 2 (Bulandsahar and Meerut), 1 (Lucknow) Graduate and above 5 6.25
and 1(Barabanki) were selected, respectively. Two 3 Organisational Participation
DCSs from each selected milk union and 10 member Low (<4.91) 25 31.25
farmers from each DCS were selected randomly, thus Medium (4.91-7.32) 37 46.25
High (> 7.32) 18 22.50
making a total of 8 DCSs and 80 member farmers in
4 Herd size
the sample. The data was collected with the help of a
Small (upto 5) 13 16.25
developed interview schedule. The satisfaction of
Medium (6-9) 58 72.50
farmers with DCSs was measured with the help of Large (above 9) 9 11.25
Bhanja (1981) scale with some modification. The 5 Milk production (liters/ day)
farmer members were categorized into low, medium Low (<8.00) 10 12.50
and highly satisfied category on the basis of mean and Medium (8-19.00) 56 70.00
standard deviation (S.D.) calculated for the scores ob- High (>19.00) 14 17.50
tained by them. In order to find out relationship between 6 Milk consumption(liters/day)
selected independent and dependent variable, Pearson Low (<1.48) 13 16.25
product moment correlation and multiple regression Medium (1.48-3.65) 50 62.50
analysis was carried out. High (>3.65) 17 21.25
7 Milk sale (liters/ day)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Low (< 5) 10 12.50
Profile of member farmers : The results on socio- Medium (5 - 10) 29 36.25
High (> 10) 41 51.25
personal and economic profile of member dairy farmers
8 Market potential
are presented in Table 1.
Low (upto 5) 13 16.25
Age and education: The average age of members was Medium (6 - 8) 51 63.75
found about 40 years and majority of them i.e. 70 per High (> 8) 16 20.00
cent were belonging to middle age group having age 9 Economic motivation
between 31 to 50 years. A small respondents (18.75%) Low (upto 4) 16 20.00
were young below 31 years of age, followed by 9 per Medium (5 - 6) 45 56.25
cent respondents in old age (>50 years) group. Highest High (> 6) 19 23.75
per cent age (42.50%) of the respondents were having have medium level of Organisational participation.
formal education upto matriculation, followed by 25, However, 31.25per cent of respondents had low level
12.50, 10, 6.25 and 3.75 per cent having middle, primary, of Organisational participation, while 22.50% of the
no formal schooling, graduate or above and intermediate respondents had high level of organisational participation.
level education, respectively. The findings obtained under the present study are clear
Organisational participation: The largest per cent indication of the fact that majority of member farmers
age of respondents i.e. 46.25 per cent was found to were modest in participating different activities of the
76 Indian Res. J. Ext. Edu. 11 (1), January, 2011

dairy cooperative societies. In most of the cases it was quantity of milk consumption was 2.57 litres per day per
found that farmers attend the societies’ meeting as household. On the basis of average milk consumption
passive observer and they hardly raise any questions or per household of 8 members (as reported in this study)
extend his opinion for improvement in day to day the per capita milk availability stands at about more than
functioning of societies (Singh, 1992). The findings are 300 ml per day, which is above the national per capita
in line with the past findings of Singh (1992), Ram milk availability of 225 gms /day. This situation is quite
Chand (1980), Saha (2001), Das (2003). However, satisfactory and encouraging for all those who are
the situation in the study area can be said to be dismal concerned with nutritional food security to the rural people.
when compared with the findings of Sah (2005) who Table 1 revealed that largest per cent age i.e. 51.25
reported outward attitude of dairy entrepreneurs towards per cent of the respondents were selling more than 10
many social organizations and majority of the litres/ day to the societies followed by 36.25 per cent
respondents were actively participating in affairs of under medium level of milk sale (5 to 10 litres/ day).
organizations in which they were members. The lower However, a small per cent age (12.50%) of respondents
or modest participation of farmers are not desirable for had low level of milk sale to the societies i.e. less than 5
the success of any cooperatives, because these situations litres of milk/day. However, the average quantity of milk
do not adhere with the principles of cooperative i.e. for sale to the dairy cooperative society was 10.83 litres/
the people; of the people; and by the people. Under day per household. The present findings also depict the
such a situation awareness and educational programmes fact that large amount of milk is marketed by the dairy
must be planned and implemented in true spirit of farmers in the study area, which is necessary for viability
cooperatives. of milk marketing network. It also indicates that farmers
Herd size: The majority of the respondents (72.50%) may be earning substantial portion of his income from
had medium herd size of 6-9 animals, followed by 16.25 milk sale and they may possess faith in DCSs, which
and 11.25 per cent s of respondents having large (more are providing readymade market for selling milk to dairy
than 9) and small herd size (upto 5), respectively. farmers
However, the average herd size among the respondents Market potential : The Table 1 revealed that majority
of the study area was 7 dairy animals per household, of the respondents (63.75%) perceived modest level of
which is quite encouraging that is indicative of the fact market potential in terms of milk purchase, price of milk,
that dairying is an important component of households’ mode of payment etc by the society followed by 20.00
income generating activities. At the same time dairy and 16.25 per cent s of respondents who perceived high
animals are part and parcel of rural life and rearing of and low level of market potential, respectively. However,
animals is also considered as sustenance farm activity. mean score calculated for the respondents of the study
Milk production, consumption and sale: The average area was 7.15. A handsome numbers of member
milk production in the study area was 13.48 litres per farmers (20%) are satisfied with the marketing of milk
day per household. Table 1 revealed that majority of done by the DSCs and they have good faith in societies
the respondents i.e. 70 per cent had medium level of with regard to purchase of milk, payments and price
milk production between 8 to 19 liters/day, followed by paid by the societies to the member farmers. Still lot
17.50 and 12.50 per cent respondents who had high more has to be done in this regard to make more and
and low level of milk production, respectively. It shows more farmers satisfied with the marketing provisions
the commercial viability of the dairy cooperatives in the by the societies. More transparency in milk grading and
study area. payments and enhanced competitiveness of societies
The largest per cent age (62.50%) of the may help in increasing credibility of DSCs.
respondents were consuming medium quantity of milk Economic motivation : The Table 1 revealed that
i.e. 1.48 to 3.65 litres per day followed by 21.25 and majority of the respondents (56.25%) had medium level
16.25 per cent of the respondents were in high and low of economic motivation, followed by 23.75 and 20.00
level of milk consumption, respectively. The average per cent s of respondents having high and low level of
Indian Res. J. Ext. Edu. 11 (1), January, 2011 77

economic motivation, respectively. However, mean score relationship, the traits of respondents are intermittently
calculated for the respondents of the study area was treated as independent variables because these traits
5.63 against maximum possible score of 9. So, at large are considered here as presumed cause of satisfaction
dairy farmers hold average level of economic motivation of respondents with the society. It is evident from Table
by virtue of which they might not be excelling in 3 that the traits of the respondents i.e. Organisational
generating profit from his dairy enterprise, at the same participation, Market Potential and Economic motivation
time they are at threshold of converting dairy enterprise had positive and significant relationship with satisfaction
into economically sound business unit. This shows the of respondents with the society whereas constraints was
potentiality of DCSs in the dairying, which can be found to have negative and significant relationship with
exploited by well planned and systematically executed the satisfaction level of farmers with the functioning of
dairy development programme among the farmers of dairy cooperative societies. However, age, education,
the study area. milk production, mlik consumption and milk sale were
Table 2. Distribution of farmers as per perceived level of non-significantly correlated with satisfaction of
satisfaction (n=80) respondents.
S.No. Category No. % MPS However, age and milk production had positive
1. Low (< 16.00) 12 15.00 59.86 influence on satisfaction but was not significant. Other
2. Moderate (16.00– 22.00) 41 51.25 variables viz., education, Milk consumption and milk sale,
3. High (22.00 – 30.00) 18 22.50 found to have negative and non-significant contribution
4. Very High (>30.00) 9 11.25 on satisfaction of respondents. The R2 value was 0.8019
MPS=Mean percentage score and indicates that all the independent variables taken
Level of satisfaction among member dairy farmers: together in consideration could explain a variation of
As revealed from Table 2, the majority of farmers 80.19 per cent in the satisfaction of the respondents
(51.25%) were moderately satisfied with the with the society.
performance of dairy cooperative societies in which they Table 3. Relationship between satisfaction and other traits
were members. A good per cent age of member farmers of the dairy farmers
i.e. 22.50 per cent felt high satisfaction with the societies, S.No. Variables ‘r’ value ‘b’ value
whereas 15.00 and 11.25 per cent s of the respondents 1 Age 0.1209 0.0038
felt low and very high level of satisfaction, respectively 2 Education -0.0525 -0.1868
with the functioning of dairy cooperative societies. The 3 Organisational 0.7184** 0.7747**
mean per cent age score of satisfaction was 59.86. On participation
the basis of results depicted here it is clear that about 4 Milk production 0.0497 0.0688
5 Milk consumption -0.0261 -0.1681
one third of the respondents were happy with the
6 Milk sale 0.0124 -0.0466
functioning of societies, however for more than half of 7 Market Potential 0.6479** 0.3557**
the member farmers the performance of the societies 8 Economic motivation 0.6135** 0.3370**
was not disappointing. These observations narrate the 9 Constraints -0.7344** -0.1541**
correct weighing and testing of milk sample, ** Significant at 0.01 level of probability
maintenance of correct accounts and satisfaction of
farmers with the facilities provided by the societies. At CONCLUSION
the same time dissatisfaction of small numbers of farmers More the farmers are motivated towards economic
also depict the prevalence of mismanagement in dairy accomplishment, they utilizes the services of societies
cooperative societies up to some extent. Comprehensive to a greater extent for their economic benefit. Once
consideration of findings reflects satisfaction of member they utilize services of societies with some monetary
farmers with the functioning of dairy cooperative dividend their satisfaction level with societies are bound
societies to a greater extent. to increase. The enhanced level of market potential with
Relational analysis between satisfaction and traits cooperative societies provides opportunity to members
of member dairy farmers : While explaining the for readily available market to sale milk at comparatively
78 Indian Res. J. Ext. Edu. 11 (1), January, 2011

higher prices with certain level of credibility in payments. impediments for member farmers in getting accrued
This particular attributes gave rise to satisfaction level benefit of several provisions within the cooperatives and
of member farmers with the performance of dairy the members develop the hostile or non-cooperative
cooperative societies. At the same time the active attitude towards societies. The emergence of such
participation of member farmers in different affairs of feelings degrades the satisfaction level of farmers with
cooperative societies inculcate the sense of the functioning of cooperative societies.
belongingness within them and they feel happy becoming Paper received on : January 02, 2010
more satisfied with the societies. Constraints serve as Paper accepted on : March 04, 2010

REFERENCES
1. Bhanja, S.K. 91981). A study of socio-economic and psychological correlates in organization and functioning of dairy
cooperatives. Ph.D. Thesis, National Dairy Research Institute (Deemed University), Karnal (India)
2. Das, S. (2003). A multivariate analysis of dairy farming practices among rehabilitated and nomadic van Gujjars in Hardwar,
Uttaranchal. Ph.D. Thesis, National Dairy Research Institute (Deemed University), Karnal (India).
3. Ghosh, S.P. (1991). Agro-Climatic Zone Specific Research: Indian Perspective under NARP. Publication and Information
division, ICAR, Krishi Anusandhan Bhavan, Pusa, New Delhi- 110012.
3. Ram Chand (1980). Measurement of aspiration of dairy farmers of ICDP, Karnal with projective and non-projective
techniques. M.Sc. Thesis, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (Haryana).
4. Sah, A.K. (2005). Entrepreneurship among milk Producers in northern region of India. Ph.D. Thesis (Unpublished),
National Dairy Research Institute (Deemed University), Karnal (India).
5. Saha, A. (2001). An analysis of the dairy knowledge and information system in Birbhum (West Bengal). M.Sc. Thesis,
National Dairy Research Institute (Deemed University), Karnal (India).
6. Singh, R. (1992). A study of constraints in the functioning of milk producers cooperative societies in Western UP.
Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, National Dairy Research Institute (Deemed University), Karnal (India).