Published in Scientific Papers. Series D. Animal Science, Vol. LIX
Written by Medin ZEQIRI, Ylli BIÇOKU , Ergent PIRE
The comparison of education level and its effect on the performance of the dairy farms in two regions of Kosovo was the objective of this exploratory study, as it is not done up to now from any institution, in the country. The data are collected from 150 respondents randomly selected from farmers’ municipality database, in two regions of Kosovo (Gjilan and Ferizaj). The data were collected through face to face interviews and personal visits based on a structured questionnaire, during the period of May-July 2014. The results show significant differences between farmers (higher level of education compare with primary education) in regard with food safety standards, animal diseases, milk yield, animal identification, farm register, and feeding of the animals according to the production level. 64.4% of the farmers of secondary+ education group knew who is the institution in charge with food safety, 72.4% knew about the institution in charge of issuing the animal health certificate, 40.2% new the symptoms of Brucellosis, 43.7% knew the symptoms of TBC compare with 27%, 33.3%, 12.7% and 14.3%, respectively for the primary education group. This research may help agriculture advisory service decision makers improving teaching and training programs for dairy farmers. Better trained farmers can improve animals feeding, cows’ milk yield, diseases control of animals, and reduce the public health risk of milk-borne zoonosis. In addition, public and donors support schemes for farmers should be strongly linked to food safety standard implementation.
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