A Comparative Study of Milk Marketing through Dairy Cooperative and Other Agencies in Aligarh District of U.P.

The present study compares the marketing system of milk in organized and unorganized sectors of the Aligarh district (U.P.). The study is based on the data collected from a member of Brooke Bond Lipton India Ltd. (BBLİL) and non-members of BBLIL. Multistage stratified sampling technique was adopted to select 75 sample households each from member and non-member class which were further post-classified into I, II and III herd size groups. The data on milk production, market surplus and quantity of milk sold to different agencies along with the price offered was collected for three seasons, namely summer, rainy and winter over the period 1995-96. The results of the study revealed that the level of milk production was higher in members than non-members in all the milk producer groups. Interestingly, 77 per cent of the marketed surplus of milk in member class was sold to co-operative societies, the milkman and private dairies covering 7 per cent each and the remaining milk is sold directly to consumers. The milk producers got the higher price of their milk in case of member than the non-member. It was due to milk being sold to cooperative societies. Milkmen (Dudhia) offered the lowest price of milk in both classes, thus exploiting the milk producers. The price of milk provided by the dairy cooperative was highest as compared to the price provided by other agencies. This clearly shows the cooperative advantage of having organized cooperative marketing infrastructure in rural areas to save milk producers from the clutches of the milkman and enable them to receive a remunerative price of other milk.

Keywords:
Rural Economy, Dairy, Marketing, Cooperative