KHUTI – A TRADITIONAL NEPALI DAIRY FARMING FOR RURAL LIVELIHOOD IN LOHIT DISTRICT OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH (INDIA)Krishna Chetry and Nishamani KarAbstract The present study attempts to analyse the traditional dairy farming practiced by the immigrant Nepali community known as Khuti- a distinctive farming system involving two different locations through mutual understanding. In this system, the households of the dairy farmers are located in Naogaon, Naopatiya, and Dhania villages of Sadiya sub-division, Tinsukia district, Assam whereas the Khutis (dairy units) are located in Haju, Kalikhola, and Zeroali in Sunpura circle, Lohit district, Arunachal Pradesh. These farmers are skilled-labours who migrate temporarily for cattle rearing and developing dairy economy for their livelihood. The data on socio-economic aspects and traditional dairy farming were collected through questionnaires (2017 â 2018) and analyzed using appropriate statistical techniques. The results show the significance of dairy farms in their livelihood and fulfilling the milk demands of nearby localities. A strong linkage between dairy farming and the socio-economic life has been also observed. There was a strong positive relationship (r = 0.996) between income coming from milk and infrastructure development of dairy farms. Flood is a recurrent problem and the farms lack infrastructure facilities especially veterinary services leading to occurrence of diseases in cattle that hampers the milk yields of the farms. Hence, we suggest for developing a suitable mechanism involving the local stakeholders and both the Arunachal Pradesh and Assam government to ensure the continuity of this unique traditional dairy farming. |