Impact of Environmental, Health, and Economic Factors on Dairy Farmers' Poverty in Shevgaon Tehsil (Dist. Ahmednagar), Maharashtra

The altering climate, politics, and government initiatives have had an impact on Maharashtra's rural areas over the past two decades, mostly on farmers and milk producers. Roughly 90% of agricultural practices are influenced by variations in rainfall and climate change. For three-quarters of the world's population living in poverty, farming is their sole sustainable source of income. But rising cost of production and low income of rural farmers put them under pressure. Farmer suicides have grown commonplace as a result of misguided government policies, minimal profit less than production costs, volatile market pricing, and trader extortion. The many farming methods and equipment use greatly lower production costs, but the influence of atmospheric variations on property losses is directly affected. Ecologically significant agricultural areas may disappear as a result of unsustainable farming and feed production for dairy. Because of stress and poor health, improper handling of dairy cows using the wrong instruments reduces the cows' output. The effects of changing environmental conditions can lead to disease in cattle, restrict export opportunities, create supply chain concerns, and exacerbate inefficiencies in production. The sector's milk output and productivity, milk quality, and milk demand have all been influenced by the policy change in the way inputs and services are provided and used. The present study shows that LSD results in yearly economic losses of up to INR 60 million in the studied area. Between 2020 and 2023, the growth rate of total expenditure was 41%, then dropped to 13.83%. The cost of milk has drastically decreased over the last few months, going from 34 rupees per litre to 25 or 26 rupees per litre. The study shows that, irrespective of the methodological approach taken, a comprehensive understanding of the various aspects influencing the dairy farming industry's economy and the direction of future research is necessary.