ABSTRACT

The study was conducted in two districts, Belagavi in Karnataka and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, during 2023-24 to examine the knowledge and adoption of management practices for LSD by dairy farmers. Data were collected from four taluks, with two taluks selected from each district. From each taluk, four villages were randomly chosen, leading to a total of 16 villages. Using multistage purposive random sampling technique, a total sample size of 120 farmers was selected.
The study revealed that in Karnataka, most farmers were middle-aged (53.33%), educated up to PUC (26.67%), had small landholdings (46.67%), and medium experience (46.67%). In Kerala, farmers were old-aged (50.00%), educated up to high school (43.33%), had marginal landholdings (60.00%) and high experience (43.33%). Majority of farmers in both states managed small herd sizes (70.00% in Karnataka, 63.33% in Kerala). Most farmers in Karnataka had medium milk production (50.00%) and farm resource base (43.33%), while in Kerala, most had medium milk production (56.67%) and farm resource base (40.00%).
In Karnataka, 40.00 per cent had medium knowledge and 40.00 per cent had medium adoption, while in Kerala, 46.67 per cent had high knowledge and 36.67 per cent had high adoption. The impact of LSD on the economic condition of farmers revealed that in Karnataka, 43.33 per cent experienced a medium impact, while in Kerala, 38.33 per cent experienced a medium impact.
In Karnataka, dairy farmers identified low milk yield (83.33%), lack of knowledge on effective management strategies (60.00%), and problems in disease diagnosis (60.00%) as major constraints in managing LSD and full respondents suggested training on effective management strategies. In Kerala, dairy farmers identified low milk yield (90.00%), lack of knowledge on effective management strategies (56.67%), and limited understanding of ethno-veterinary practices (56.67%) as key constraints, and 93.33 per cent recommended training on effective management strategies.