1 r M.Sc. Student, m Dean and Professor, n Professor Sundaresan School of A.H. and Dairying SHIATS, Allahabad – 211007 (U.P.) The Allahabad Farmer Vol. LXVII, January - 2012 No. 2 Effect of lactation order on quality of raw milk in crossbred cows Mahakar Singh r , Jagdish Prasad m and Neeraj n ABSTRACT Present study was undertaken to determine fat, protein, lactose, ash, water, sp. gr., S.N.F. and T.S. for compositional quality and to determine standard plate count (SPC), proteolytic bacterial count (PBC), lipolytic bacterial count (LBC), lactic acid bacterial count (LABC) and coliforms for bacterial quality of raw milk as influenced by lactation order of crossbred cows at SHIATS Dairy Farm, Allahabad. The analysis of variance showed significant effect of lactation order on T.S., fat, water, acidity; but non-significant differences in SPC, LABC, PBC, LBC, CC; Sp. gr., S.N.F., protein, lactose, and ash in raw milk. Results revealed non significant effect of lactation order on bacterial parameters of raw milk quality. Among the chemical parameters a significant effect of lactation order on T.S., fat, water and acidity was found but no significant effect on sp. gr., S.N.F., protein, lactose and ash was observed. Key Words: Lactation order, crossbred cows, milk quality INTRODUCTION Contamination of milk with spoilage and disease producing microorganisms may occur at any stage from production to distribution. Microbial population depends upon the conditions associated with the production and handling of milk. Though India has become the largest milk producer of 114 million tons in year 2010-11 but quality of raw milk particularly the bacteriological quality is far below from satisfaction (Bhasin, 2011). Lactation yield is an important trait of dairy animals because it gives return to the milk producers. It depends upon duration in milk and lactation order of animal (Bhaskar and Gupta, 1992). Whether lactation order has any influence on the bacterial as well as chemical quality of milk, the present investigation has been undertaken.