Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2019) 8(5): 2298-2305 2298 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2019.805.271 Participation Appraisal of Women Farmers in Dairy Husbandry Practices in Indo-Pak Border Area of Punjab (India) Sumanpreet Kaur 1* , Jaswinder Singh 1 *, H.K. Verma 2 , Shakti Kant Dash 3 and S.K. Kansal 1 1 Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension Education, 2 Directorate of Extension Education, 3 Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction The prosperity and growth of a nation depends on the status and development of its women as they not only constitute nearly half of the population, but also positively influence the growth of remaining half of the population. India being the leading country in milk production contributed annual milk production of 155.5 million tons during 2015-16 (Department of Animal husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India), accounting for about 18.5% of world production. This signifies that dairying is a significant means of livelihood to millions of rural farmers. The rural women play a significant role in animal husbandry and are involved in practices like feeding, breeding, management and health care. Women spend most of their time in care and India being the agriculture based country; livestock sector becomes the backbone of the nation’s development in terms of economy and various other sectors as well. Livestock production serves as the main source of employment, income and food for over seventy percent of Indian population and women play the role of the hidden working force behind the establishment of livestock sector. A study was conducted on 160 women dairy farmers of 4 border districts namely Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Taran-Taran and Ferozepur of Punjab to ascertain their participation level in various practices related to dairy farming. A pretested structured questionnaire comprising questions on various livestock management practices was filled during the personal interview with women farmers. Data so collected was analyzed descriptively to draw inference. Majority women (70%) had medium level of participation and factors like age, land holding, farm milk production, herd size and number of animal labourer were found to be inversely correlated with the participation score (p<0.05). Study concluded that women are diversely involved in various dairy farming practices and their role is required to be scientifically strengthened through policies and extension activities. Keywords Dairy farming, International Border area, Participation, Punjab, Women Accepted: 18 April 2019 Available Online: 10 May 2019 Article Info International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 8 Number 05 (2019) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com