DETERMINANTS OF DAIRY FARMERS’ INCOME THROUGH COOPERATIVE FARMING: AN EVIDENCE FROM RANGPUR DISTRICT

Abstract

A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. A dairy cooperative is owned, operated, and controlled by the dairy farmers who benefit from its services. The purpose of the study was to describe factors affecting dairy farmers’ milk production value through cooperative farming, as well as to analyse the contribution of the selected characteristics of the dairy farmers to their income generation activities. The study was conducted at Mithapukur upazila under the Rangpur district. Data were collected from the randomly selected 60 cooperative dairy farmers using a structured interview schedule. Multiple Regression analysis was used to analyse data using SPSS v.23. The finding of the study stated that a significant increase in income generation is noticed through cooperative farming and the dairy farmers are able to recognize and understand new business opportunity. The study also stated that the farmers with more training received, more duration of contract and with more benefits can increase milk production value. However, entrepreneurial capacity was found to be statistically insignificant to milk production. Thus, the development in dairy farming through cooperative initiatives can play a very significant role in rural development.