Producing, Processing, Marketing and Hygiene of Cow Milk in the Supply Chain of Girar Jarso District of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Production and productivity of dairy is very low in Ethiopia. This problem is exacerbated by high contamination with microorganisms and other contaminants during production, procurement, processing and distribution. To tackle the problem, understanding the production, processing and microbial load of raw milk and measuring its hygiene quality is necessary.
Objectives: The study was conducted with the objective of assessing milk production, handlings, constraints of milk production and marketing, and its hygiene in urban and peri urban areas of Girar Jarso district of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.
Materials and Methods: A total of 150 respondents were interviewed using pretested questionnaire to collect data on dairy cattle management, milk production, hygienic conditions, milk production constraints and marketing. Moreover, 60 milk samples were collected and analyzed for mean aerobic mesophilic bacterial count (AMBC), total coliform count (TCC), and spore forming bacterial count (SFBC).
Results: The major feed resources were communal grazing land, crop residues, grass hay, concentrate feeds and non-conventional feed such as atella. The mean estimated daily milk yield/day/cow was 12.15 ± 0.26 and 2.69 ± 0.04 liters for crossbred and local cows, respectively. Average lactation lengths of local and crossbred dairy cows were 6.58 ± 0.22 and 9.19 ± 0.11 months, respectively. Shortage of feed, lack of clean water, appropriate utensils and adequate markets during fasting season were the major constraints to dairy production in the study area. The mean AMBC, TCC and SFBC for milk samples collected from producers at farm gates were 6.42 ± 0.07, 4.49 ± 0.09 and 2.59 ± 0.05 log10 cfu ml-1, respectively.
Conclusion: It is concluded that dairy productivity in the study area is low and of poor quality as a result of different constraints and therefore good dairy husbandry and hygienic milk handling practices should be promoted to improve milk productivity and milk quality in the study area.