Major Limitation on clean milk Production and raw milk handling Practices in Meta Robi District, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

The milk handling practices and different constraints that affect milk quality in different production systems were identified to take corrective measures. The study was conducted in three dairy production systems of West Shewa Zone, Oromia Regional state. Out of 180, 30 households from urban,75 households from peri-urban and 75 households’ rural areas respectively. The data were collected from 180 respondents purposely selected respondents. Descriptive and inferential statistics was employed to summarize raw milk handling practice, hygienic quality of equipment. Design expert software was used to test significance values of independent variables considering local and improved cow breed. The result of the study revealed that, the milking methods of dairy farmers was hand milking with milking frequency of twice (1.5, 12, 0.25, 7, 0.5 and 3L/day show significance difference at 0.05 respectively. On the other hand, only 28.3% of households were found practicing cleaning of the milking barn. There was statistically significant difference between milk producers who were not wash their hands before milking (85.8%) than that of milk producers who do wash (14.2%) their hand before milking. Besides, this study revealed that, only 36%, and 23.1% of dairy producers washed udder and teat in urban and peri-urban production systems, respectively. Majority (85.9%) of milk producers weren’t practicing drying udder and teats after washing whereas, only 14.1% milk producers were practicing to dry udder and teats with individual towel (4.7%) and common towel (9.4%). Significant number of milk producers (47.8%) and (68.8%) used gourds as milk storage equipment in peri-urban and rural area, respectively while plastic container was dominant (84%) in urban production system. These findings highlight the urgent need for interventions to improve the handling practices of raw milk in the study area. By addressing these constraints, it is possible to enhance clean milk production and ensure the availability of safe and high-quality milk for consumers in Meta Robi District. Further study is warranted to assess the effectiveness of these interventions and explore additional factors influencing milk handling practices in other regions of Ethiopia.