Field visit and interaction meet with a progressive women dairy farmer at Hankhane village, Pernem, Goa

 

    A field visit and interaction meet was carried out with a women progressive dairy farmer Mrs. Amita Arun Naik at her Naik Agro and Dairy Farm, Hankhane village, Ibrampur, Pernem, Goa on 4^th December, 2024. Mrs. Naik has 2 acres of land at Hankhane village located on Goa Maharashtra border where she has set up a dairy farm with 17 dairy cows, a fodder cultivation plot, a small-scale dairy processing unit for preparation of milk products and a vermicompost unit for utilization of manure from dairy. She is also marketing her products like packaged curd, lassi, energy drink, paneer and vermicompost in Goa and adjoining areas of Maharashtra. During the interaction, Dr. Shirish Narnaware, Senior Scientist (Veterinary Pathology), ICAR-CCARI provided guidance on clean milk production, disease prevention, nutritional and reproductive management, cultivation of high yielding fodder varieties and judicial use of antimicrobials in dairy. During the visit biological samples such as blood, faecal and cervical swabs from dairy cows were collected for assessment of health and fertility status. Mrs. Naik informed that she regularly uses a herbal teat-dip developed by Dr. Nimali Dhond, an onsite incubatee of ICAR-CCARI for mastitis prevention since past 6 months with very good results. Dr. Prasatha Vemula (YP-II) coordinated and assisted for sample collection during the visit. The farmer assured continuous support for the research and development activities of the institute in the area of dairy farming and fodder cultivation.