Introduction to Buffalo and Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes

Introduction to buffalo and Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes

Rakhi Sharma and Awadhesh Kishore

Institute for Development of Technology for Rural Advancement, Mathura-281004 INDIA

Sarvoday Mahavidyalaya, Chaumuhan-581406, Mathura INDIA

Asia is the native home of the water buffalo, with 95% of the world population. About half of the total buffaloes are present in India. The water buffalo or domestic Asian water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is a large bovine animal. In India the buffalo is reared for milk, meat and draught purposes. The buffalo has a special significance in the Indian dairy industry.

Taxonomy of buffalo:

The swamp buffalo has 48 chromosomes; the river buffalo has 50 chromosomes.

Kingdom-Animalia

Phylum-Chordata

Class-Mammalia

Order-Cetartiodactyla

Family-Bovidae

Buffalo breeds:

Probably milk production formed the basis of selection and breeding which resulted in the evolution of farmers’ dairy breeds of riverine buffalo like Murrah, Kundi, Nili Ravi, Jaffarabadi, Mehsana, Surti etc. In India most popular buffalo breeds are Murrah, Bhadavari, Jaffarabadi, Mehsana, Nili-Ravi and Surti. Other major buffalo breeds include Pandarpuri, Toda, South Kanara, South Kanara, Dharwari/Gowli, Dharawari and Godavari etc.

Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes:

Progeny Testing Bull Farm, Hisar of State Government, Haryana was transferred to Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in the year 1985, and was established as Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes (CIRB) at Hisar.

The Mandate:

The mandates of CIRB are as follows:

1)         To promote and undertake research on all aspects of buffalo production.

2)       To establish nucleus breeding herds of important buffalo breeds in their native tracts.

3)       To co-ordinate research work carried out by other institutions in the country and to collaborate with international agencies in the area of buffalo research and development

4)       To act as a repository on all aspects of buffalo production and development.

5)       To undertake extension activities for technology transfer.

Campus:

The main campus of the Institute is located at Hisar on the National Highway No. 10. Hisar is located between latitude 29.100N and longitude 75.460E. It is about 170 KM north-east of New Delhi and about 3 KM from Hisar bus stand on Sirsa Road and about 5 KM from Hisar Railway station. Nearest airport is Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi for International flights and Palam Airport, New Delhi for domestic flights.