A Comparative Study and Profitability Analysis of Different Crossbred Dairy Cattle in Milk Pocket Areas of Bangladesh

Abstract

The Present research was conducted in Sirajgonj district to know the socio-economic status of dairy farmers; to investigate the feeding practices, productive and reproductive performance of different crossbred dairy cattle and to assess the cost and return of dairy farmers in the areas of Bangladesh. A field survey was carried out with a total of 127 crossbred dairy cows under 3 Crossbreds studied from July to September 2022. Data were collected through direct interviews and careful observation of different dairy crossbred rearing farmers. The studied parameters were the major socio-economic condition, seasonal feed allowances, productive and reproductive traits and the profitability of different dairy crossbred rearing farmers where data were analyzed by using SPSS version-25. The average age of puberty of Holstein Friesian (HF), Jersey and HF×Jersey crossbreds was 21.28±0.20, 23.40±0.29 and 22.42±0.15 months where the age at first calving was found 44.42±0.21, 43.96±0.19, and 44.51±0.16months respectively. The highest Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) was observed at 1.43 in the case of HF crossbreds and HF×Jersey crossbreds ranked second where the BCR of 1.41 was found for the overall dairy crossbred rearing farmers. The present results would be helpful for the farmers to compare and select the high-yielding dairy crossbreds as well as to understand the profitability of rearing among these three crossbreds of dairy cattle in the selected areas. From these findings, it may concluded that the productive and reproductive performance of the HF cross is higher than the Jersey cross and HF×Jersey crossbred dairy cows in the milk pocket area of Bangladesh.