Working Papers

Water is an essential component of the dairy industry. Water is required at various stages of dairy farming, including cleaning the animals, drinking, processing, and so on. Sustainable water management is one of the most pressing problems of the 21st century, as freshwater resources become scarce. Several factors influence water use assessment on a dairy farm, including breed selection, herd size, keeping, feeding, and milking technology. Climate change poses a threat to dairying due to temperature fluctuations and water scarcity. The Indian dairy industry has a large water footprint, and its major production hotspots ? Punjab, Haryana, North Gujarat, Western UP, and Tamil Nadu ? are located in severely water-stressed regions. The purpose of this research is to determine the water footprint of various breeds in Gujarat?s Anand district. It also intends to investigate various aspects of water management in the dairy production sector in the Anand district. This paper presents an overview of the average amount of water required for cow and buffalo milk production in Anand. It takes into account the direct consumption of water by milch animals for drinking, feed and fodder, and cleaning. The milch animal consumes an average of 59.38 litres of water per day. In Anand, a milch animal requires 89.02 litres of water per day, which includes drinking water and water consumed through feed and fodder. Each milch animal uses 6.27 litres of water per day for cleaning purposes. According to the findings, drinking water has a significant impact on milk production of milch animals.