Adoption of Good Management Practices by the Gaushalas (Cow-shed) in Karnataka State, India

Abstract

Gaushalas play a vital role in safeguarding the cattle wealth of our country. It is primarily occupied with providing shelter to cows and is catering mostly the needs of non-lactating, weak, unproductive and stray cattle. However, a few fore front Gaushalas also maintain nucleus herd for in-situ conservation of indigenous purebred cows and produce quality males so as to enhance productivity of indigenous breeds. With this view, present study was undertaken with the objective of understanding the level of adoption of good management practices by the Gaushalas. The study was conducted in Karnataka State involving 40 out of 80 registered Gaushalas, categorized as small (n=12), medium (n=18) and large (n=10) Gaushalas based on the herd size. Good management practices play an important role in improving the production performances of cattle, enhancing efficiency of animals in Gaushalas. In the present study ‘adoption’ was operationalised as the degree to which the good management practices viz., breeding, feeding, healthcare, general management and hygienic milk production, were adopted in the Gaushalas.