BUFFALO PRODUCTION AND RESEARCH

1 BUFFALO PRODUCTIONAND RESEARCHREUTECHNICAL SERIES 67 FAO REGIONAL OFFICE FOR EUROPEFAO REGIONAL OFFICE FOR EUROPEINTER-REGIONAL COOPERATIVE RESEARCHNETWORK ON BUFFALO (ESCORENA) BUFFALO PRODUCTION AND RESEARCHE dited byAntonio BorgheseConsiglio per la ricerca e la sperimentazione in agricolturaISTITUTO SPERIMENTALE PER LA ZOOTECNIAFOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONSRome, 2005 Professor Antonio BorgheseIstituto Sperimentale per la ZootecniaVia Salaria, 31 - 00016 Monterotondo, Roma (Italy)Tel. 0039 06900901 - 0690090232 - 3383172740 Fax 069061541e-mail.

2 Mention or omission of specific companies, their products or brand names does not imply any endorsement orjudgement by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expressionof any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerningthe legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delim-itation of its frontiers or rights reserved.

3 Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or othernon-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders providedthe source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of material in this information product for resale or other commer-cial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the copyright holders. FAO 2005 PREFACEFor many years I have had the idea of writing a book about the BUFFALO : the species that I loveand have studied for thirty years.

4 The BUFFALO is a very quiet and intelligent animal , domesticbut rustic, faithful and friendly, rich in history, and can now be found in many countriesworldwide. It is employed as a draught animal , but also produces meat, horns, skin andparticularly the rich and precious milk that gives creams, butter, yoghurt and many cheeses,including the delicious opportunity to write this book was facilitated by the FAO Regional Office for Europeaiming at promoting the diffusion of expertise and technologies among the regions within theframework of the European System of Cooperative RESEARCH Networks in Agriculture(ESCORENA).

5 The FAO Regional Office for Europe supported me, as Coordinator of the FAOI nter-Regional Cooperative RESEARCH Network on BUFFALO for Europe and the Near East, toproduce this reference book on buffaloes all over the world with contributions from variousbuffalo experts and based on the results of my own RESEARCH and work experience was gained thanks to senior researchers devoted to the development andpromotion of buffaloes. The first of these was Dr Augusto Romita, my first supervisor at theIstituto Sperimentale per la Zootecnia (the animal PRODUCTION RESEARCH Institute of the ItalianMinistry of Agriculture in Monterotondo, Rome) with whom I conducted many experiments atTormancina, the farm of the Institute, on BUFFALO calves and young bulls during the period from1974 to 1980.

6 He later prepared the first important RESEARCH project on the BUFFALO species,financed by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture. This project examined the main aspects ofbuffalo PRODUCTION : nutrition and requirements, reproduction and physiology, and rumenmicrobiology, in collaboration with other Italian universities: Naples, Bologna, Perugia, second was Professor Giovanni De Franciscis, who shared with me his concept of workingtowards the realization of the good prospects for BUFFALO development in Italy and in the promoted the first (1974) and the second (1982) International BUFFALO Congress, andorganized, in collaboration with the IBF (International BUFFALO Federation, founded in 1985)and myself, the Fourth World BUFFALO Congress (1997) in the Royal Palace of third was Mr A.

7 Qureshi, who raised my awareness of the essential role of buffaloes for thelivelihood of many rural families in developing countries and encouraged me to establish theFAO Inter-Regional Cooperative RESEARCH Network on would also like to mention Professor Beniamino Ferrara, the famous university teacher inAnimal PRODUCTION of students of my generation in Naples, and a dear colleague and friend ofmine, Tullio Di Lella, Professor of animal Feeding and Nutrition at the Veterinary Faculty,Federico II University, Naples, Italy, who supported my dedication to BUFFALO these five colleagues have unfortunately now passed away and I feel somewhat sad andlonely without them.

8 I would therefore like to dedicate this book to their BorgheseMonterotondo (Rome), Italy, 2005 INDEXC hapter I PageAntonio Borghese and Marco Mazzi BUFFALO Population and Strategies in the IIBianca Moioli Breeding and Selection of Dairy IIIB ianca Moioli and Antonio Borghese BUFFALO Breeds and Management IVVittoria Lucia BarileReproductive Efficiency in Female VGiuseppina Maria Terzano Follicular Dynamics and Reproductive Technologies in VIGiuseppina Maria Terzano Reproductive Application of Ultrasound in VIIS tefano Terramoccia.

9 Settimio Bartocci and Antonio BorgheseNutritional Requirements in BUFFALO Cows and VIIIS ettimio Bartocci, Stefano Terramoccia and Simonetta PuppoNew Acquisitions on the Digestive Physiology of the Mediterranean IXCarmela Tripaldi BUFFALO Milk XAntonio Borghese BUFFALO Cheese and Milk XIAntonio Borghese BUFFALO Meat and Meat XIIG iuseppina Maria Terzano, Simona Allegrini, Antonio Borghese, Cristina Roncoroni and Lavinia AlfieriMetabolic and Hormonal Parameters in XIII Antonio Fagiolo, Cristina Roncoroni, Olga Lai and Antonio Borghese BUFFALO XIVA ntonio Borghese BUFFALO International of IBUFFALO POPULATION AND STRATEGIES IN THE WORLDA ntonio Borghese and Marco MazziIstituto Sperimentale per la Zootecnia( animal PRODUCTION RESEARCH Institute)Via Salaria 31, 00016 Monterotondo (Rome), ItalyThe BUFFALO (Bubalus bubalis) population in the world is actually about 168 million head: 161 million can be found in Asia ( percent); 3 717 million are in Africa, almost entirely inEgypt ( percent).

10 Million ( percent) in South America, 40 000 in Australia ( percent); 500 000 in Europe ( percent).ASIAA sian BUFFALO or Water BUFFALO is classified under the genus Bubalus, species Bubalus bubalisbelongs to the class Mammalia, subclass Ungulata, order Artiodactyla,suborder Ruminantia, family Bovidae, subfamily Bovinae, tribe Bovini, which includes thefollowing three groups: Bovina (cattle), Bubalina and Syncerina. Syncerina includes only thespecies Syncerus caffer(the African BUFFALO ).