Volúmenes de leche de vaca destinados a la producción de queso de mano en el estado Aragua, Venezuela

the present work studied the volume of yearly production of cow's milk in the main production centers for the manufacture of "hand" cheese in aragua state during 2005. as such, research was carried out in the field from visiting 40 centers of sales, 31 cheese makers and 12 farms. the results indicated that the total sales of hand cheese in the aragua state were 60,159.78. in girardot municipality, the main centers of "hand" cheese sales represent 57 % of the total sold in aragua state. the total cheese manufactured was 40,289.21 kg/year, where san sebastian was the municipality that presented the largest annual production of cheese with 66 % of the total. the proportion bs./g of "hand" cheese at the cheese maker？s level stays constant but is variable at the point of sales (retail level). on the other hand, the total of cow's milk destined for making "hand" cheese was 2,336,180 liters/year, where camatagua with 53% was the municipality that represented the largest production of milk.