Milk production and Marketing in small holder dairy in the Northern area of Vietnam: A case study in Phu Dong Commune

Dairy cows in small holders in Phu Dong contribute to improve the welfare of farm households. It generates income, provides a highly nutritious food for people, create employment opportunities in the society. However, most dairy farmers have a few cows, which will be difficult to improve their lives. They are more vulnerable because milk is easy to be rotten, feed costs are high and increasing; market is fluctuated with shock while gate farm price is almost stable. This study analyzes the situation of milk production and marketing in small holders in Phu Dong. The Heckman two-step procedure is used to estimate factors affecting the decision of market participation and milk marketed volume of dairy households. The main findings are: The pure HF breed dairy cows produced higher productivity but shorter lactation period than that of cross breed cows. The productivity was highest in the pure HF breed medium-size farms and lowest in the cross breed medium-size farms. However, there is not much difference in milk yield per lactation between these breeds. Age of the household, education level, experience in dairy production, distance from milk market and number of milking cows significant impact the probability of the household in milk market participation. Number of milking cows, education level of the households, and non-dairy source financial incomes are important factors affecting sale volume of milk.