IMPACT EVALUATION OF ANIONIC MINERAL MIXTURE SUPPLEMENTATION ON MILK PRODUCTION AND THE MILK FEVER: A RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIAL

Last registered on December 24, 2021

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
IMPACT EVALUATION OF ANIONIC MINERAL MIXTURE SUPPLEMENTATION ON MILK PRODUCTION AND THE MILK FEVER: A RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIAL
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005108
Initial registration date
November 23, 2019

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
November 25, 2019, 10:32 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
December 24, 2021, 7:50 AM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
ICAR-NATIONAL DAIRY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INDIA

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
ICAR-NDRI
PI Affiliation
ICAR-IIWBR
PI Affiliation
ICAR-NDRI
PI Affiliation
ICAR-NDRI
PI Affiliation
ICAR-NDRI
PI Affiliation
ICAR-NDRI

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2020-09-01
End date
2021-03-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Upon parturition or calving, due to increased milk production in dairy cows and buffaloes, calcium (Ca) requirement will be 10 times more than the dry period. If this requirement is not fulfilled, Ca deficiency leads to a condition called parturient hypocalcaemia or milk fever. It is an economically important disease; in Tamil Nadu alone the economic loss was estimated at ₹ 40.62 crores (Thirunavukkarasu, et al., 2010). Milk fever incidence in the field ranges from 5 - 25 per cent and in extreme cases may reach upto 80 per cent which results in huge losses to the dairy farmers (DeGaris & Lean, 2009). Supplementing negatively charged (anionic) ration before 3 weeks of calving reduces the incidence of milk fever and other diseases by increasing Ca resorption from the bones (Mani, 2018). With this background the proposed study evaluates the effectiveness of a technology commercialized by ICAR-NDRI namely ‘Anionic Mineral Mixture for reducing post-partum problems in cows and buffaloes’ using Randomized Control Trial (RCT) in the five adopted villages of NDRI.
Objectives
1. To evaluate the impact of anionic mineral mixture supplementation on milk production, incidence of milk fever and farmers’ income
2. To estimate the price sensitivity (demand elasticity) of the technology
3. To estimate the cost effectiveness and forecast the overall economic benefit of Anionic Mineral Mixture supplementation

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Cariappa, A G Adeeth et al. 2021. "IMPACT EVALUATION OF ANIONIC MINERAL MIXTURE SUPPLEMENTATION ON MILK PRODUCTION AND THE MILK FEVER: A RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIAL." AEA RCT Registry. December 24. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5108-3.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
1. Supplementing dairy farmers with anionic mineral mixture
Intervention Start Date
2020-10-01
Intervention End Date
2021-02-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Milk production
2. Incidence of milk fever (parturient hypocalcaemia)
3. Income from dairying
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
1. Milk production is the average daily milk yield per animal. For the overall sample (cows+buffaloes), daily average fat-corrected milk yield is used.
2. Incidence of milk fever is a dummy variable taking value 1 for observed milk fever and 0 otherwise.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Income from dairying
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
It is the value of milk produced per animal in a lactation.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Individual level randomization of 200 dairy farmers who own at least one pregnant bovine (cows and buffaloes) and doesn't use any other type of anionic feed. The intervention will be randomly phased in.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Individual level
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
200 dairy animals
Sample size: planned number of observations
200 animals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
100 animals in control
50 cows will be fed anionic mineral mixture
50 buffaloes receive anionic mineral mixture
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Standardized effect size - 0.34 litres/day
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
February 01, 2021, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
March 31, 2021, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
200 dairy animals (100 cows and 100 buffaloes)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
200 dairy animals (100 cows and 100 buffaloes)
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
50 cows fed anionic mineral mixture, 50 buffaloes fed anionic mineral mixture, 50 control cows, 50 control buffaloes. Overall - 100 treated animals, 100 control animals.
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Abstract
Calcium deficiency in high yielding bovines during calving causes “milk fever” which leads to economic losses of around ₹ 1,000 crores (US $ 137 million) per annum in Haryana, India. With increasing milk production, the risk of milk fever is continuously rising. In the context, we aim to address the most fundamental research question: What is the effect of a preventive health product (anionic mineral mixture (AMM)) on milk fever incidence, milk productivity and farmers’ income? In an effort to contribute to the scanty economic literature on effect of preventive measures on nutritional deficiency disorders in dairy animals, specifically, on AMM effects in India, this study uses a randomized controlled design to estimate internally valid estimates. Using data from 200 dairy farms, results indicate that milk fever incidence decreases from 21% at baseline to 2% in treated animals at follow-up. Further, AMM leads to a 12% and 38% increase in milk yield and farmer’s net income, respectively. Profits earned due to the prevention of milk fever [₹ 16,000 (US$ 218.7)] overweighs the losses from milk fever [₹ 4,000 (US$ 54.7)]; thus, prevention using AMM is better than cure.
Citation
Cariappa, A G Adeeth and Chandel, B S and Sankhala, Gopal and Mani, Veena and R, Sendhil and Dixit, Anil Kumar and Meena, B S, Prevention Is Better Than Cure: Experimental Evidence From Milk Fever Incidence in Dairy Animals of Haryana, India (May 23, 2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3851561 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3851561
Abstract
Should we distribute preventive animal health products for free or charge a positive price? The decision depends on the price sensitivity of the product and the effect prices have on product use. We explore this idea through a field experiment in which we randomize the price a farmer faces for an animal health product. We find that the demand for the product is highly sensitive to prices; willingness to pay (WTP) decreased from 44% at ₹ 100 to 18% at ₹ 500. Further, among farmers who were willing to pay, the product usage rate was 71% and usage did not increase in prices (lack of screening effect). Furthermore, we find that farmers whose animals were sick in the baseline had a higher WTP. These findings support the human capital model relating to demand for human health products. We argue that individuals behave in a similar way when the decisions concern their own health or the health of an animal they rear for commercial purposes. A highly subsidized distribution of the product is recommended due to high price sensitivity, lack of screening effect, equitable distribution among poor and lesser implementation costs found in this study.
Citation
Cariappa, A G Adeeth and Chandel, B S and R, Sendhil and Dixit, Anil Kumar and Sankhala, Gopal and Mani, Veena and Meena, B S, Do the prices of a preventive animal health product affect dairy farmers’ willingness to pay and product use? Evidence from an experimental study. Available at ResearchSquare: https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-731711/v1

Reports & Other Materials