The study was conducted in Thoubal district of Manipur state with the overall objectives of the cost and return analysis, resource use efficiency, marketing efficiency and its problems during production and marketing. The research is based on the data collected by using proportionate sampling from a total of 100 dairy farm sample households comprising of 60 Crossbred and 40 Local cows. Net maintenance cost for a milking crossbred cow was Rs. and for a milking local cow was Rs. per day, respectively. Net return per day from a crossbred milking cow was Rs. while for a local milking cow was Rs. . So, a crossbred milking cow was economical more than the local cow. MVP and MFC ratios for green fodder and labour were and , respectively for crossbred cow. MVP and MFC ratios for green fodder and concentrate were and , respectively for local cow. Other variables in the entire farm are non-significant. Marketing efficiency of milk was estimated by analyzing price spread of different marketing channels. For crossbred cows the producer’s share in consumer’s rupee was highest percent in channel-III, (Producer → Consumer) as there were no intermediaries involve in the channel. In channel-I (Producer → Collector → Cooperative → Retailer → Consumer and channel-II (Producer → Retailer →Consumer) the producer’s share in the consumer’s rupees were at 60 percent and 85 percent, respectively. For local cows, the farmers only marketed through channel-III and producer’s share was found percent. The major problems faced by the respondent farmers during production were high price of concentrate, low availability of green and dry fodders and lack of veterinary facilities. The major problems in marketing were delay in payment by unorganized sector, low price of liquid milk, lack of market information and lack of regulated market and milk cooperative. | Economics of milk production and marketing in thoubal district of Manipur, India
