Nutritional Management for Buffalo Production (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION The buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is an important contributor to milk, meat, power, fuel and leather production in many developing countries. Buffaloes could be categorized into Asian and Mediterranean buffaloes. Asian buffalo have two subspecies known as the Riverine and Swamp types. The River (water buffalo) and Swamp buffalo possess different genetics (50 vs. 48 chromosomes, respectively), morphology (body frame, body weight, horn shape and skin color) and behavior (wallowing in mud or water) thus are reared for different purposes. Riverine buffaloes are generally larger in size, heavier with curled horns and are mainly found in India, Pakistan and in some countries of western Asia. They are primarily used for milk and meat production (Sarwar et al., 2002a, b). Swamp buffaloes are stocky animals with marshy land habitats and are mainly found in South East Asian countries. They are primarily used for draught power but are also used to produce meat and small quantity of milk.