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Water buffalo have been responsible for more than ten percent of world milk production for several years, but the potential of these animals has seldom been appreciated or recognised. One of the main reasons for this is that those who have a stake in rearing buffalo are generally poor and underprivileged, and not able to project the impact this beast has on their livelihood and well-being.
The word “buffalo” evokes a mixed response in North America, a large section of Europe, and in many other parts of the world where buffalo have never been considered a domesticated species. This animal has been identified as a zoo animal or a wild beast. However it is among the most gentle of the domesticated dairy species, which is obvious in India and the sub- continent where it is common to see small children handling large herds of buffalo.
Over time buffalo rearing has shifted from the backyard to commercial farms and large business enterprises. The immense popularity of buffalo milk and meat products has ensured that buffalo production has followed in the path of the dairy cattle industry. However for this species to perform optimally under the pressure of intensive production systems, buffalo breeds have to be improved, with clear focus on the desired output. This has not yet happened. Buffalo, although potentially excellent for both milk and meat production, still languish in obscure conditions of poor nutrition, breeding, management and welfare.
This animal is called the water buffalo because of its natural instinct to wallow in ponds of water and muddy pools.
Buffalo wallowing in a pool on a hot summer day.
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Studies of human settlement down the ages show that domestication of animals is intrinsic to any progressive civilisation. Archaeological findings and historical data point to the fact that buffalo were first domesticated around 2 500 BC in the Indus Valley: present day India and Pakistan (Chantalakhana and Falvey, 1999). Around 600 AD, Arab traders brought water buffalo from Mesopotamia towards the Near East: modern day Syria, Israel and Turkey.
Distribution of domesticated buffalo in different parts of the world.
During the Middle Ages the animal was brought to Europe by pilgrims and crusaders. Buffalo are now found in Italy, Hungary, Romania, some Balkan countries, Greece and Bulgaria. The domestic water buffalo has also been introduced into South America, the United States and Australia (BSTID, 1981).
World milk production has doubled in the last few decades and it is noteworthy that in the last few years, buffalo have supplied about 12% of the total world milk production. India and Pakistan have produced respectively 60 and 30% of the world’s buffalo milk. In India buffalo milk contributes 55%, and in Pakistan 75%, of their total milk production (FAO, 2004).
Buffalo farms in Mumbai city
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Dairy buffalo production has been a tradition in parts of the world like the Caucasian countries, Asia and Egypt, where fresh buffalo milk, dahi (cultured sour milk), ghee (butter oil) and yoghurt are popular. In Italy the dairy buffalo industry is flourishing thanks to the popularity of buffalo mozzarella cheese. Because of the market for mozzarella, buffalo farming is a profitable enterprise and is carried out in an organised manner with modern equipment. In South American countries like Brazil and Argentina, buffalo are reared for both milk and meat. In recent years, buffalo milk and milk products, especially mozzarella cheese, have become immensely popular and dairy buffalo production has found its way into non-traditional areas with the number of buffalo farms mushrooming even in the UK and USA (Palmer, 2005). In India as well as Pakistan, in the vicinity of all the major cities like Mumbai, Calcutta, and Karachi, one can find a large number of buffalo farms of varying herd sizes. In Mumbai alone, there are more than 200000 buffalo in downtown districts and probably another 100000 in suburban areas. Some of these farms have herd sizes of more than 1000 buffalo, and on average these herds have more than 100 buffalo (Vidya, 2004). Large-scale dairy buffalo production is a greater reality in India and Pakistan than anywhere else in the world – even though it represents less than two percent of the buffalo farms in those two countries.
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Riverine type (50 diploid chromo-somes) Breeds such as Murrah,
Nili Ravi, Jaffrabadi, Mediterranean. |
Swamp type(48 diploid chromo-somes) For example Carabaos. |
There are 170 million buffalo in the world today: 97% in Asia, 2% in Africa – mainly in Egypt, and 0.2% in Europe – mainly in Italy (FAO, 2004). India has 56%, Pakistan 14% and China 13% of the world buffalo population. Nearly 98% of water buffalo in Asia and the Pacific region are raised by small farmers owning less than two hectares of land and fewer than five buffalo (Chantalakhana and Falvey, 1999). Buffalo contribute 72 million tonnes (Mt) of milk and three Mt of meat annually to world food, much of it in areas that are prone to nutritional imbalances. In addition they are a major source of draught power, and that is why buffalo have been called the “live tractor of the East” (Cockrill, 1967). So it is surprising that very little resource and international effort has gone into developing this species. Similarly the systems and programmes to improve buffalo are not yet effective even though there is abundant genetic variety of this species.
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The domestic water buffalo Bubalus bubalis, belongs to the family Bovidae, sub-family Bovinae, genus bubalis and species arni or wild Indian buffalo (Chantalakhana and Falvey, 1999). Buffalo are classified into two distinct classes: swamp buffalo and river buffalo.
Swamp buffalo are found in China, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Burma (Myanmar), Laos, Sri Lanka, Kampuchea and Malaysia. They are mainly used as draught animals, particularly in rice cultivation. Swamp buffalo produce relatively small quantities of milk – 1.0 to 1.5 litres per day – so they are not heavily used in milk production (Chantalakhana and Falvey, 1999). The swamp buffalo might however be used in meat production (BSTID, 1981). The name ‘swamp’ has probably arisen from their preference for wallowing in stagnant water pools and mud holes (Subasinghe et al., 1998).
Riverine breeds of the Indian sub-continent are mainly raised for milk production. Their milk yield is about six to seven litres per day. Twelve of the 18 major breeds of buffalo are kept primarily for milk production. The main milk breeds of India and Pakistan are the Murrah, Nili-Ravi, Surti, Mehsana, Nagpuri and Jaffrabadi (Chantalakhana and Falvey, 1999). The river buffalo prefers, as its name reveals, to wallow in clear, running water (Subasinghe et al., 1998).
The most important breed for milk production in India is the Murrah. Murrah buffalo originate from the area around Delhi, and the breed has been spread from that area to other parts of India. The breeds Surti and Nili-Ravi are believed to have developed from the Murrah through geographical isolation. The Nili-Ravi buffalo were two different breeds (Nili and Ravi) but are now considered to be a single breed. The Kundi breed is also of importance in milk production. Traditionally the buffalo breeds in Europe have been of the local Mediterranean type and the breeds in Caucasia, the Caucasian type. The most important breed in Bulgaria is the Bulgarian Murrah, which is the result of cross breeding between the local Mediterranean buffalo and the Indian Murrah, followed by upgrading with Indian Murrah. Cross breeding local buffalo with high yielding elite buffalo has now started in several countries.
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Swamp buffalo
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Jaffrabadi and Murrah,
two of the riverine breeds
of buffalo |
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Murrah
Weight: male – 550 kg, female
– 450 kg
Production: 1 800 to 2 500 kg
in 300 days |
Jaffrabadi
Weight: male – 800 kg, female
– 600 kg
Production: 2 000 to 2 200 kg
in 300 days |
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Mediterranean
Weight: male – 600 kg, female
– 500 kg
Production: 2 000 to 2 800 kg
in 300 days |
Mehsana
Weight: male – 500 kg, female
– 400 kg
Production: 1 800 to 2 000 kg
in 300 days |
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Nili-Ravi
Weight: male – 700 kg, female
– 550 kg
Production: 1 800 to 2 400 kg
in 300 days |
Beheri (Egypt)
Weight: male – 450 kg, female
– 350 kg
Production: 1 800 to 2 000 kg
in 300 days |
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The water buffalo is an important beast of burden in Asian farming. It is widely used to plough, level land, plant crops, puddle rice fields, cultivate field crops, pump water, haul carts, sleds and shallow-draft boats. It is also used to carry people, thresh grain, press sugar cane, haul logs, and more. Buffalo have an advantage over other draught animals in wet or muddy areas, with their large hooves. Their legs can withstand wet conditions better than cattle. However they are not as fast as cattle, horses or mules. This puts them at a disadvantage in dryer areas (BSTID, 1981).
Buffalo have been used as draught animals for centuries. This has lead to exceptional muscular development: some animals can weigh more than 1000 kg. Though buffalo are a major source of meat, they have not been used solely for meat production until recently. Most buffalo meat is derived from old animals so not surprisingly the meat is considered to be of poor quality. However this is not true of meat from younger animals. Buffalo meat from animals properly reared and fed, is tender and palatable. Buffalo are lean animals. In general, a buffalo carcass has a higher proportion of muscle and a lower ratio of bone and fat than a cattle carcass (BSTID, 1981).
Buffalo are the second largest source of milk supply in the world. In 2004, according to statistics from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) the world production of buffalo milk was 75.8 million tonnes (Mt). Trends in world milk production over the five years to 2004 indicate that the volume of buffalo milk is increasing steadily at about three percent per year (see Table 1). While dairy cattle produce 84% of the total milk in the world it has to be noted that this volume is with an average fat and protein content of 4% and 3.5% respectively. The average fat content in buffalo milk is about 7 to 8% while protein content in buffalo milk ranges from 4.2 to 4.5%. So in terms of energy corrected milk, buffalo milk is making a greater food contribution than the actual volume of buffalo milk suggests.
Table 1: Trends in world buffalo milk production – a comparison with other dairy species.
Buffalo in a loose housing barn
India is the world’s largest producer of milk but unlike other milk producing nations, the milk is produced by a large number of farmers (about 70 million) located in some 500000 remote villages. The families of the milk-producing farmers are mostly poor and under-privileged. Therefore, the additional income every year through the sale of surplus milk is vital to their well-being and economic security (Manorama India Yearbook, 1998).
The riverine breeds produce more milk than the swamp types, as they have been selected specially for their milk production. The average milk yield of the riverine breeds Murrah, Nili-Ravi and Surti are 2000 to 2100, 1800 to 2000 and 1600 to 1800 kg per lactation respectively, according to Subasinghe et al. (1998). However, reports of higher milk yields, especially in Murrah buffalo, are not unusual. A lactation yield of 3775 kg by a Murrah buffalo was reported by Basu et al. (1979). Today this figure is even higher in some cases.
Buffalo milk is high in total solids, fat, proteins and vitamins compared to cow’s milk. Buffalo milk also contains less cholesterol and more tocopherol, which is a natural anti- oxidant. The peroxidase activity is two to four times higher in buffalo milk than in cow’s milk, which means that buffalo milk has better natural keeping qualities (Chantalakhana and Falvey, 1999). Buffalo milk appears to be whiter than cow’s milk because it lacks the yellow pigment carotene, a precursor of vitamin A. But buffalo milk contains even more vitamin A than cow’s milk.
Buffalo milk is used for a variety of different milk products such as butter, butter oil (clarified butter or ghee), soft and hard cheeses, condensed or evaporated milks, ice cream, yoghurt and buttermilk. The properties of buffalo milk make it very suitable for processing. For example, it takes eight kilograms of cow’s milk to produce one kilogram of cheese, while it takes only five kilograms of buffalo milk (BSTID, 1981). In India, 28% of the total milk production is converted into ghee and about 20% is converted into products such as dahi (curd), khoa (dehydrated milk) and a variety of milk sweets (Chantalakhana and Falvey, 1999).
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Although the river buffalo is the main dairy animal in some countries, it is a primitive animal compared to the developed dairy breeds among cattle like the Holstein-Friesian and Jersey. Many generations of selective breeding have produced cattle with almost predictable productive and reproductive traits. This has not been the case among the buffalo breeds as most of these animals are reared by landless and marginal farmers, with the animals reproducing naturally (Chantalakhana and Falvey, 1999). However there is no reason why buffalo breeds could not be developed in the same way as cattle.
Buffalo have a number of anatomical and physiological similarities with the other species in the Bovidae family. Cattle have 60 diploid chromosomes, river buffalo have 50 and swamp buffalo have 48. While the two types of buffalo can be mated to produce a fertile offspring which has 49 diploid chromosomes, buffalo cannot be successfully mated with any other species in this family (Mahadevan, 1992).
The swamp buffalo is slate grey, droopy necked and ox-like. It has massive backswept horns (BSTID, 1981). There are no clear differences between breeds of swamp buffalo, except for body size (Subasinghe et al., 1998). The riverine buffalo is usually black or dark grey, with tightly coiled or drooping straight horns (BSTID, 1981). They are generally large in body size. There are greater differences between riverine breeds than between the breeds within the swamp type (Subasinghe et al., 1998). The body weight of a female buffalo of Murrah breed ranges from 430 to 500 kg, according to Ganguli (1981).
Buffalo are grazers (Pathak, 1992) and they graze a wider range of plants than cattle do (BSTID, 1981). They utilize low-grade roughage more efficiently than cattle do. Buffalo have slower ruminal movements, a smaller rate of outflow from the rumen and higher bacteria population in rumen fluid. This leads to a longer exposure of the feed and consequently a more complete digestion. The rumen of a buffalo also has a higher production of volatile fatty acids than the rumen of cattle. This might be one of the factors contributing to the higher fat content in buffalo milk (Ganguli, 1981).
The buffalo has an exceptionally long productive life. A normal healthy female buffalo could have as many as nine to ten lactations (Ganguli, 1981).
Buffalo are less tolerant of extremes of heat and cold than various breeds of cattle. The body temperature of a buffalo is lower than that of a cow in spite of the fact that its black skin absorbs much heat and its skin has only one-sixth the density of sweat glands that a cow skin has. This explains why buffalo like to wallow in water when the temperature and humidity are high (BSTID, 1981). Regulation of body temperature in this way influences feed intake, reproduction and milk production.
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A comparative study of temperament was done among Murrah buffalo, crossbred cows and Red Sindhi (Indian breed) cows. The results of this study showed that these buffalo had a higher percentage of docile animals (Nayak and Mishra, 1984). Almost 50% of this group of Murrah buffalo were docile. About 7% of the group were aggressive. The rest were classed as restless or nervous animals. However in another study by Roy and Nagpaul (1984), Murrah buffalo were compared with Karan Swiss and Karan Fries dairy cows (two Indian breeds of crossbred cows). It was found that the buffalo had higher temperament score (more aggressive temperament) than the dairy cows. The temperament scores for all three groups decreased with increasing parity between the third and fifth lactation (Roy and Nagpaul, 1984).
Buffalo in a loose housing barn
The different temperaments of buffalo affect concentrate intake, milking behaviour and milk production (Nayak and Mishra, 1984). Docile buffalo are preferred over nervous and aggressive animals, as the docile animals are easier to milk, handle and manage. They also produce more milk of relatively better quality than that from aggressive buffalo (Nayak and Mishra, 1984; Gupta et al., 1985).
In a comparison between docile, restless, nervous and aggressive Murrah buffalo, it was found that the docile individuals had a higher rate of concentrate intake, shorter let-down time, slightly longer milking time, higher daily milk yield, higher milk flow rate and a higher percentage of milk fat than the other groups of buffalo (Nayak and Mishra, 1984).
It was found in a study by Thind and Gill (1986), that buffalo were eating the most after morning and evening milking, and also eating moderate amounts around noon and midnight. Ruminating behaviour was most intense after each peak of eating behaviour. Some variations between the seasonal periods were seen. The buffalo took water three times during a 24-hour period in the cooler seasons, and four times during a 24-hour period during the warmer seasons. In a study by Schultz et al. (1977), on average 27% of the time was spent on feeding, 39% on ruminating and 34% on resting (while lying or standing). A similar study on grazing buffalo found 37 to 54% of their time was spent on feeding, 28% on ruminating and the remaining time on resting, walking and wallowing (Bud et al., 1985).
Another behavioural study on Murrah buffalo under the loose-housing system was made by Odyuo et al. (1994). The results from this study showed that buffalo spent significantly more time on eating, idling (other behaviours than eating, ruminating or sleeping) and walking during daytime, and significantly more time on ruminating and sleeping during the night time. Peaks in eating behaviour in lactating buffalo were observed around 4:00, 9:00, 13:00, 15:00, and 19:00. Ruminating behaviour was lowest during the hours around noon and highest during early morning and late evening. The highest peaks of sleeping behaviour were seen around 3:00 and 23:00. Idling time peaked around noon.
Integrating various aspects of dairy buffalo management together, such as improved housing, nutrition, breeding and milking, is known to produce remarkable improvements in buffalo productivity (Sastry and Tripathi, 1988). Better animal welfare will be reflected in the normal behavioural activities and milk production. In dairy cattle it has been established that restricting normal feeding leads to behavioural abnormalities like tongue rolling (Redbo et al. 1996). The rhythm of the various buffalo activities like feeding, lying, standing and ruminating was not disturbed by the mechanisation of different farm activities like concentrate feeding, manure handling, water feeding and milking (Thomas et al., 2005). However, using a shower to cool the animals before milking, and again during the hottest parts of the day, was found to improve feeding behaviour in the daytime (ibid).
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The limited application of systematic programmes for breed improvement through selective breeding at the village level has been the main bottleneck in the development of buffalo production. In general, a dairy cow is considered to be efficient if the age at first calving is about 24 to 30 months. The calving interval should be about 12 to 13 months, with a lactation length of about 300 days, a 60 to 90 day dry period, and milk production of between 6000 to 7000kg per lactation. As an example, in Sweden the average milk produced per recorded dairy cow was 8794kg, with 4.1% fat and 3.4% protein or 8939 kg ECM (energy corrected milk, Sjaunja et al., 1990). Age at first calving among the herds reported was around 29 months with calving intervals at about 13.2 months (Swedish Dairy Association, 2003).
One could argue that the buffalo has its own species-specific productive and reproductive traits. In general buffalo are usually aged around 40 to 60 months at first calving (Ganguli 1981). However, there are indications that productive traits can be improved. As an example, Mediterranean breeds and swamp buffalo calved earlier than those of the Indian subcontinent (Rao and Nagarcenkar, 1977)
Average calving intervals for Indian and Pakistani buffalo ranged from 15 to 18 months. The dry period has been reported to be 90 to 150 days for the Nili-Ravi breed of Pakistan while for the Murrah, it ranged from 60 to 200 days (Wahid, 1973). Average lactation length ranged from 252 to 270 days. As a result of these factors the productive life of a buffalo is only 39% of its total life, compared to 52% in developed dairy breeds (Ganguli, 1981; Sastry, 1983).
In most of the buffalo milk-producing countries of Asia, it is observed that there are large seasonal variations in breeding and calving in buffalo (Ganguli, 1981). In India and Pakistan, 80% of the buffalo calve during June and December, causing a decline in milk production from March to June. (Production starts increasing in June, to peak around September– October before declining again.) However, others have suggested the early summer decline in milk production could be due to heat stress and shortage of greens. A dark body, lesser density of sweat glands and thick epidermis make it difficult for buffalo to thrive in extremely hot and dry conditions.
Buffalo have developed survival mechanisms to seek water for immersion in these conditions, but extreme heat or cold significantly affect their milk production and reproductive efficiency (Sastry, 1983). In addition to climatic influences, poor nutrition and management also affect breeding and production.
Heritability of the partitioning of milk in the udder has been established for decades and dairy cattle have been bred for higher cisternal fraction, smaller teat dimensions, and high milk flow rates (Johansson et al., 1952). It has been postulated that there could be further selection on udder storage capacities in dairy cattle. Animals will be selected for more frequent milking, to suit recent developments in automatic milking in parts of the world like Europe. In countries like Australia and New Zealand where cattle are on pasture, they will be selected for larger udder storage capacities and longer milking intervals (Knight, 2001). Although buffalo in India have been selected for milking characteristics, it possibly has not been done from a machine milking perspective. Apart from this, limited application of advanced breeding techniques like artificial insemination has hampered the process of breed improvement in buffalo (Sastry, 1983).
Changes in breeding, feeding and management can bring about notable improvements in the productive and reproductive performance of buffalo (Sastry, 1983). An obvious though neglected target has been finding out why the first calving occurs at such a high age. Close attention from birth to the time heifers reach breedable body size could bring down the age at first calving by six to nine months (Sastry and Tripathi, 1988). It has been shown that balanced feeding could bring buffalo heifers into cycle when they reach 330 kg body weight. There are also cases where heifers have calved at 20 to 24 months (Ganguli, 1981).
Calving intervals in buffalo are influenced by the irregular and silent heat period as well as some reported irregularities in reproductive hormones and seasonality. It has been reported that there is seasonal breeding in buffalo due to diminished sexual activity in the period between March and June (Ganguli, 1981). Although buffalo are thought to be seasonal breeders, it has also been reported that they can breed throughout the year if reproduction management is good (Rao and Nagarcenkar, 1977; Sastry and Tripathi, 1988). Thus, important management factors to consider in improving milk production are managing nutritional status around calving, pre- and post-partum hygiene, good milking management, balanced feeding, heat detection and artificial insemination, managing thermal stress and improving housing (Ganguli, 1981; Sastry, 1983).
In the following chapters some practical aspects related to improving dairy buffalo production are discussed in more detail.
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