An investigation was conducted to study the economic analysis of milk production in Southern India. A total of 240 dairy farmers were selected comprising 80 each from the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The study revealed that the average gross maintenance cost of milk production per milch animal per day was higher in crossbred cow (` 234.12), followed by buffalo (` 163.82) and local cow (` 143.54), respectively. The net cost per milch animal per day was observed to be higher in crossbred cow (` 227.94), followed by buffalo (` 159.67) and local cow (` 139.93), respectively. The cost of milk production per litre was higher in local cow (` 33.13), followed by buffalo (` 31.84) and crossbred cow (` 20.99), respectively. The net return per litre was observed to be positive in case of crossbred cow (` 5.67) and buffalo (` 3.30) for all the herd size categories whereas negative net return per litre of milk was observed in case of local cow (` -3.93) for all the herd size categories because of high cost of feed and fodder and also low milk yield.

Highlights

• Average gross maintenance cost of milk production per milch animal per day was higher in crossbred cow followed by buffalo and local cow.
• The net cost per milch animal per day was observed to be higher in crossbred cow, followed by buffalo and local cow.
• The cost of milk production per litre was higher in local cow, followed by buffalo and crossbred cow, respectively.
• The net return per litre was observed to be positive in case of crossbred cow and buffalo for all the herd size categories whereas negative net return in case of local cow for all the herd size categories.