Cost of milking and labour requirements on a dairy farm

The cost of milking and labour requirements for milking was studied under machine and hand milking system on a dairy farm at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The study brought that cost of milking a buffalo by machine (Rs. 1.60 per milking) and hand (Rs. 0.97 per milking) was higher than milking a cow. It was also observed that cost of milking per kg of milk by machine was higher (Rs. 0.40 in buffalo and Rs. 0.25 in cows) than hand milking (Rs. 0.25 in buffaloes and Rs. 0.21 in cows). However, one milker can milk 26 buffaloes or 38 cows by machine milking or 16 buffaloes or 18 cows by hand milking per day under 2 × milking programme.