Milk Production, Handling, Processing and Marketing Practices in Selected Districts in Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

This study was conducted in Segen Area Peoples Zone, Southern Ethiopia, to analyze milk production, handling, processing, and marketing techniques. A total of 204 people were chosen for the study using simple random sampling technique, and data were collected utilizing a semi-structured questionnaire. During the research, both primary and secondary data were gathered. SPSS version 20 software was used to analyze the data using descriptive statistics, chi square test, and analysis of variance. 85 percent of the 204 houses surveyed were male headed household while the remaining 15% were female headed. The respondents' average age was 43.8610.064 years. In the current study, the age of the respondents ranged from 23 to 80 years old. In the
Derashe district, almost 36.5 percent of respondents washed their udders before and after milking, indicating that the importance of udder cleaning was higher than in other regions. The majority of those polled (83 percent) smoked milk handling equipment to improve the taste and flavor of milk and milk products, as well as to eradicate harmful bacteria and promote milk fermentation. To churn milk, 17 percent of respondents use a gourd while 43 percent use a clay pot. The primary limits discovered in the 69 percent, 3 percent, 7.5 percent, 2.5 percent, 8 percent, and 10 percent were shortage of feeds, scarcity of water, disease, lack of market and market information, poor infrastructure, absence of improved breed, and inadequate artificial insemination. Farmers' attitudes should be modified through training and other means, and powerful dairy cooperatives should be founded, mainly in rural regions, to improve milk and milk product handling procedures and reduce cultural barriers in milk marketing.