The Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) - Production and Research

Water buffalo, whether it belongs to the swamp or river type, is an important animal resource aside from cattle, whose great potential as source of products of animal origin and as a tool for research has been widely recognized. With a population of about 168 million, buffaloes are widely distributed in many countries around the world, mainly in the Asian continent as an important source of milk, meat, hide and draft power. This paper presents the history, world distribution, breeds, the characteristics of the two types of buffaloes, and the genetic improvement achieved in this species.

Though world buffalo population is about 1/9 of cattle population, more human beings depend from buffaloes, especially in South-East Asia. Indeed, there are about 168 million water buffaloes in the world, mostly (161 million) raised in Asia. The River buffalo has received great attention from West countries which are particularly interested to both milk and meat production. For this reason, the genetic improvement of buffaloes still remains one of the most important goal in this species. Cytogenetic is one of the biotechnologies which supports the genetic improvement of buffaloes, especially for the selection of reproducers. In this chapter, an update of the latest results obtained in the cytogenetics of buffaloes is reported, starting from its cytotaxonomy and going through clinical and molecular cytogenetics, cytogenetic investigations and breeding objectives.

The Italian river buffalo was characterized by an extensive period of isolation, which did not allow crossbreeding. This has brought to a morpho-functional differentiation of the Mediterranean type, whose population has increased 19 fold in Italy in the past fifty years. This increase is mainly due to the rising interest in the productive characteristics of this rustic animal; actually bred mainly as dairy purpose animal. Marker assisted selection (MAS) might be a promising choice for planning appropriate breeding schemes for Italian river buffaloes. In this respect, the genetic markers significantly associated to milk yield traits may give the right information for the identification of animals with high breeding value. The literature associated with different aspects of the genetic progress in buffalo is abundant, and this chapter is a review of the molecular bases for the improvement of the quali-quantitative characteristics of the Italian dairy buffaloes occurred during the last decade.

This chapter will focus on the effects of interaction of river buffaloes with the environment both in confinement and in extensive conditions, on their behavior and welfare. Firstly, the time and place of domestication are described. Sections on time budget, foraging and feeding habit, maternal and social behavior, and some aspects of style of interaction with the environment and temperament are then elucidated. Subsequently, focus is shifted on the quality of relationship between stock-people and animals, which is an important aspect affecting animal welfare in modern farms. Finally, the welfare consequences of intensive farming on buffalo welfare are evaluated using a number of animal-based indicators.

Buffalo maintain thermal balance by physiological and behavioural processes. During heat stress, on exposure to direct solar radiation or during work, buffaloes exhibit signs of distress. Under extreme hot dry or hot-humid environmental conditions ability of buffaloes to regulate temperature is compromised, and body heat balance that is dissipated at later stage or during cool periods by heat exchange processes, is increased. The responses of body functions under either acute or short term heat are discussed in relation to the initiation of panting by thermal stimulation of peripheral receptors and to the control of respiratory activity by deep body temperature. During heat exposure, an increase in water turnover reflects adaptation to maintain fluids for evaporative cooling. Acute exposure or short term exposure to heat evokes several responses of plasma volume and its composition, including changes in potassium metabolism. Acute heat exposure gives rise to a change in renal hemodynamics and electrolytes excretion. Changes in renal electrolyte excretion during heat stress are discussed in relation to the alteration of hormonal level and to the acidbase status of the blood. The effect of heat exposure on various other reactions is also summarized in thyroid activity, the levels of hormones in the pituitary and adrenal glands.

Swamp buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) are multipurposes and resourceful animals in agriculture of incredible importance among farmers. Within a smallholding farming system, typical of many Asian countries, seasonal feed resources used on swamp buffaloes, are of paramount importance for an efficient production. In fact, during the dry season, when conventional feed resources are usually scarce, their contribution is incredibly relevant. In addition, the utilization of such feed resources may represent an efficient way to reduce methane production through better use of secondary compounds in tropical plants and herbs (tannins, saponins, etc.), and consequently improve the overall rumen ecology and finally buffalo productivity. Currently, the development of food-feed systems (FFS) have been successfully implemented and therefore should be fully integrated into the ordinary use by smallholder farmers. However, in order to improve and make more efficient feeding methodologies, both treatments and/or supplementations should be considered, such as the development of simple and practical feeding and the use of concentrate mixtures based on on-farm resources (home-made concentrates, HMC) in order to reduce production costs and enhance profitability and sustainability of the buffalo production. The manipulation of rumen fermentation by treating roughage and/or by supplementing the available feed resources with plants characterized by high quality feed block, tannin/ saponins, especially cassava hay and other local feed resources, could improve rumen efficiency by maintaining a constant higher pH, optimum NH3-N, and increasing microbial protein synthesis and essential VFAs, and therefore enhancing ruminant productivity in the tropics. Moreover, buffaloes have been shown to be more efficient in feeds utilization, when compared to cattle. Lately, the application of molecular technology to rumen studies, such as the use of PCR-DGGE and real-time PCR, has been instrumental in offering a wide range of information and data on rumen microbial diversity and the likelihood of a possible functional role in reducing rumen methane as well as enhancing productivity in swamp buffaloes.

As other ruminants, buffaloes utilize micro-organisms in the rumen to digest the feed. In buffaloes a higher rumen degradability of nitrogen and carbohydrates in concentrates promotes the growth and the synthesis of rumen bacteria, even when fed diets with low protein content. It appears that buffaloes use more efficiently nitrogen coming out from rumen fermentation and metabolism and by recycling it. This efficient accommodation to more limiting feeding condition is enhanced by a higher availability of purine derivatives (PD) of metabolic origin. Many measurements done on buffaloes of various breeds have shown a lower PD nitrogen excretion in urine. In buffaloes, urinary PD excretion is not linked to i) the availability of microbial cells in the rumen or ii) small intestine uptake of purines. Such PD excretion seems to be related more to tissue metabolism differences of which the mechanisms are not yet fully understood. Some explanation is emerging with new studies on swamp buffaloes, summarized in the following two: i) in the first study, weaning of swamp buffalo and cattle calves was accomplished by colostrum administration, and rearing followed by milk bottle feeding. To assess differences in the endogenous secretion of purines, urine samples from the two species were collected. Solid food was not made available in the course of the first month, but access to it was granted in the course of the intervening 2 successive months in order to stimulate rumen development. Then a mixed ration of purines and milk was given to the animals, together with an infusion of intravenous allantoin, so that the effect of the introduced purines in the plasma could be tested. From the results obtained in the course of the suckling period, no differences between the two species in purine excretion was reported. Following rumen development though, purine excretion from buffaloes was less than half when compared to cattle, and likewise, following allantoin infusion, purine recovery in buffaloes was half the amount when compared to cattle ; ii) in the second study in the course of fasting and bottle milk feeding, a determination of urinary PD, basal PD excretion and glomerular filtrate (GFR) rate was made. Following access of the animals to solid feed, an assessment of urinary PD, basal PF excretion and glomerular filtrate rate was also performed. No significant differences were observed between the two species in the course of the milk feeding period in terms of urinary PD excretion, although the same differences were highly significant between the two species at 3 months of age and following 2 months of access to solid feed. In buffaloes, both during the milk feeding and following solid food access, GFR was found lower in buffaloes when compared to cattle. To date it can be stated that some studies report a higher rumen fluid NH3 concentrate in swamp buffaloes in comparison to yellow cattle. Other studies have shown that only following rumen development, a difference in PD excretion can be seen, and the difference between buffaloes and cattle is due to differences in GFR, so that more urea and PD are recycled, highlighting the fact that buffaloes can tolerate less N in the feed to satisfy microbial needs.

This review aims at elucidating some of the factors that affect seasonality in the buffalo species, together with the possibility to enhance reproductive performance in buffaloes through the adoption of newly developed technologies. It is known that reproduction in buffaloes is influenced by the season, and an improvement in reproductive performances is reported in the period of the year when the length of the day decreases. If conception is not established in buffaloes in the course of few ovarian cycle, ovarian function is interrupted and a period of ovarian quiescence (anestrus) begins. The transitional period in the buffalo is an important one for reproductive functions, and throughout this period a proper management of the animals has to be taken into consideration, especially in order to properly maintain the hygienic status of the uterus. Buffaloes reared in tropical countries north of the equator may be characterized by a reduced fertility in the summer when hit mainly by restricted feeding and heat stress. In some countries like Pakistan, the breeding season starts in a period of the year characterized by decreasing daylight (autumn), together with an increase in body condition score. Differently, despite a constant feed availability in the course of the year and a moderate daily temperature ranging from 13 to 23 °C, anestrus can be witnessed also in Italy. These two countries are similarly characterized by an increase in daylight from April to June and reaching more than 12 hours of light hours at summer peak. In order to improve fertility in Italian buffalo herds, an increasing number of farms adopt the Out of Breeding Mating Strategy (OBMS) together with the availability of water pools. This is a clear evidence that reproductive performance as a whole can be improved, together with a reduction in the incidence of embryonic mortality and ovarian inactivity, when environmental conditions are also improved.

Worldwide production of buffalo milk is steadily increasing. In this chapter, the worldwide distribution of buffalo milk production is described, with emphasis on production styles and characteristics by region. Representative buffalo breeds are described, along with production levels and general herd management. Relevant factors such as heat stress, animal nutrition, conversion efficiency, health management, calf rearing systems and sanitary milk production conditions are outlined. Factors influencing buffalo milk performance and production are also outlined in this chapter such as sexual maturity, calving interval, days in lactation, residual milk and performance according to age groups.

This chapter covers a review of chemical composition and nutrient profile of buffalo milk; several key physical properties (freezing point, surface tension, electric conductivity and thermal stability) are described. Regional manufacturing, utilization and marketing of buffalo milk by-products such as cheese, yogurt, ghee and others are also described and step-by-step flow charts are presented.

In this review, focus has been given on the diverse parasitological scenario that can be found in different buffalo farms in central and southern Italy, where the majority of buffalo heads are reared. The Geographical Information System, developed and used for the planning of sampling protocols, for data analysis and results, has been employed for the conduction of many studies performed in the course of the last twenty years. Furthermore, the copromicroscopic analyses were conducted using multivalent techniques, the FLOTAC techniques, which are characterized by high sensitivity, as well as precision, specificity, accuracy and reproducibility. Such techniques have been developed to further the capacity to quickly detect any possible parasitic infections, especially those that may pose any kind of human and veterinary public health concerns. From the results presented in this review, it is clear that we have witnessed over the last decades a significant modification of buffalo farm management and production system. Such buffalo farms have moved towards more intensive and innovative practices, such as the adoption of newly developed reproductive technologies and nutrition regimens together with increasing amounts of concentrate feeds and stored forages. The concurrent preventive use of anthelmintic treatments has greatly reduced helminth infections, which may pose a serious threat for human health such as the zoonosis caused by the larval stages of Echinococcus granulosus. It is worth mentioning also the witness of a parallel rise in protozoa and arthropoda infections.

The review aims at illustrating the state of the art in terms of acquisition of knowledge in the reproductive physiology of the buffalo species, ranging from fetal oogenesis to prepuberal and adult follicular dynamics in river and swamp buffaloes. Such aspects are considered in parallel and compared to cattle reproductive physiology. Reproductive efficiency is presented in the light of a seasonal pattern, and affected by human intervention due to localistic differential market demands for milk and cheese production. Finally, the implementation of reproductive technologies, from the use of artificial insemination together with the development of protocols for synchronization of ovulation, to in vivo (MOET) and in vitro embryo production and Ovum Pick Up (OPU), are taken into consideration, highlighting successes and difficulties.

Multiple Ovulation and Embryo Transfer (MOET) is one of the biotechnologies of reproduction most utilized in the world to produce a high number of in vivo embryos. In the buffalo species the application of this technology meets several difficulties, and the embryo recovery rate is definitely lower than that recorded in cattle. This chapter aims at discussing the state of art of MOET in buffaloes and to analyze the factors that limit and influence its efficiency.

In consideration of the typically low efficiency of MOET programs in buffaloes, in the past two decades there has been a mushrooming interest in the exploitation of in vitro embryo production procedures (IVEP), employed for a more rapid and targeted improvement and propagation of superior genetics from elite animals. Procedures that had been used in cattle successfully, were also used in the very first attempts in buffaloes, although a significant improvement in the efficiency of the entire process in the buffalo species has been achieved in the course of the intervening years through novel information on oocyte and embryo culture requirements. This review aims at describing the state of the art of IVEP in the buffalo species, the results and improvements obtained together with the difficulties and limitations still to be overcome.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a relatively new technique applied to the buffalo species. The current oocyte maturation, enucleation and nuclear transfer, and in vitro embryo culture systems for buffalo reconstructed embryos, are comparable with bovine SCNT. However, there are very few reports on delivery of normal live cloned buffalo calves. The inducible pluripotent stem cells (iPS), which made a major breakthrough in the remodeling of somatic cell nucleus by inducing different transcription factors, have not been applied in the buffalo cloning. Moreover, the application of SCNT in transgenesis of buffalo is limited to the development of transgenic blastocysts. In this chapter, we described recent advances and novel approaches in SCNT and transgenic buffalo productions in connection with the concurrent advances in other relevant mammalian species.