TY  - BOOK
AU  - Paul Princely Rajkumar C 
AU  - Francis Xavier (Guide)
TI  - Computerized Data Management for Dairy Farms
U1  - 636.088 
PY  - 2002///
CY  - Mannuthy
PB  - Department of Livestock Production and Management, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences
N2  - Dairy farms play an anchor role in the development of dairy sector and 
in turn sustainable milk production. Efficient farm management inevitably 
requires proper data management. As the traditional recording system seems to 
be disadvantageous, computerized data management system is gaining 
importance for efficient record management. So, the present study was planned 
to analyze the existing system of record management and to develop a 
computerized record management system for dairy farms. 
The study was conducted in the University Livestock Farm, College of 
Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy. The existing system of data 
recording was analyzed. The input requirement in both manual and 
computerized recordings were observed. The time required for recording data, 
both in manual and computerized recording system were measured. Based on 
the results obtained by the assessment of existing recording system, the input 
requirement for computerized recording was identified. 
By incorporating these inputs, the computerized data management 
system 'DAIRYSOFT' was developed using visual basic 6.0 as front end and 
MS Access as back end program. From the study, it was found out that manual 
recording system consisted of many unnecessary entries and duplication of 
entries. The number of entries to be made for a single recording in the manual 
recording system was considerably more than that of computerized recording 
system. The time taken for retrieval of information required screening of two 
 
to three registers whereas, computerized recording system required a single 
worksheet. 
The man hour requirement for entering data in manual recording system 
for treatment, breeding, growth, milk recording, milk distribution, birth, 
artificial insemination (AI) and mortality registers were 3.13 ± 1.10, 4.47 ± 
1.81,1.19 ± 0.25, 22.]8 ± 1.13,3.70 ± 0.31,1.81 ± 0.]8,1.95 ± 0.19,1.46 ± 
0.40 and 2.55 ± 0.30 minutes respectively; whereas the man-hour requirement 
for entering data by computerised recording system for treatment, breeding, 
growth, milk recording register, milk distribution, birth, AI and mortality 
registers were 2.63 ± 1.10,2.98 ± 1.32,0.67 ± 0.10,17.37 ± 1.35,2.88 ± 0.19, 
0.96 ± 0.07 and 1.18 ± 0.21 minutes respectively. The variation in the man-hour 
requirement between manual and computerised data management system was 
found to be significant (p<O. 0 1 ). 
The computerized data management system IS a user-friendly 
programme. It is based on menu system, which is protected with a password. 
The programme consists of main menu and several submenus namely stock 
position, registers, reports, health and data entry. Each submenu is provided 
with several options. Submenu stock position describes the present day stock 
position of different categories of animals and other details such as total milk 
production and number of pregnant animals available presently. Submenu 
'registers' allow the user to view all the registers of the farm. The user can 
retrieve any information from different registers using the options available, 
which displays the concerned register. Submenu 'reports' allow the user to 
 
obtain various reports required for analyzing the efficiency of the farm. The 
user can directly take hard copy of the report. The submenu 'help' gives 
information about the software and the last submenu was exclusively formatted 
for data entry. 
From the study, it may be concluded that the developed computerized 
data management system may ensure effective recording in dairy farms, timely 
retrieval of needed information, generate important reports that are useful for 
managing and evaluating the efficiency of the farm. 


UR  - http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810105097
ER  -