The women group consisting of 20 members intends to undertake collective farming with shares as per their investment. Initially the farm will have 10 cows which will be managed collectively as an enterprise by the women members. Those members who cannot afford to purchase a cow will work on the farm earning wages in return.
At the rate of 18 liters per day (average yield of milk per cow), the dairy farm will be able to sell 54,900 liters annually. Female calves will be kept at farm to replace the older cows while male calves will be sold around one year of age. On average 4 male calves will be sold per year.
2.1.1. Location of Farms
The women dairy center is located in the outskirts of Mazar-e-Sharif of Balkh province. The …show more content…
They will acquire additional cows/heifers of improved breed notably Holstein Friesian to increase the number of cows to ten. Artificial insemination will be undertaken using services of qualified and experienced veterinarian in the area. The women members will receive extensive training in artificial insemination and will provide AI services to other women dairy farmer in the area. SEDEP will assist the women dairy center in getting access improved breed of cow for the first time and facilitate linkages with suppliers of semen on sustainable manner. The dairy center, will be instrumental in the breed improvement through its services to other …show more content…
The dairy center will be managed by members of the women group who have shares in the dairy farm. The farming will be based on stall-feeding model and will have on average 305 days of lactation period. The lactation period will be managed that out of the 10 cows, a minimum of 7 will be milking at any time. Grazing will be avoided in order to avoid risk of parasites and other diseases. On average it is estimated that each milking cow will yield 20 liters of milk per day net of the quantity fed to calves. The yield trend of an individual cow will be off-set by the different timings of the cows. The dairy centers will continue improving practices to optimize yields. Male and female calves are assumed to be in equal proportion. Male calves will be sold at an age of one year while female calves will be kept at the farm to replace old and low productivity cows. On average a farm may replace 20% of its stock every year with a replacement cost of 20% of the total price. Yields are assumed to increase at a modest 1 percent per year while the number of milking cows will be increased from 10 to 20 in Year-5. Of these 15 will be milking at any time.
2.1.5. Feeding
The dairy farm at women dairy center will stall-feed cows. On average the cow will be fed on the basis of its body weight. The dairy farm will also explore options of preparing silage at the center. Silage and hay will be used in winter periods when