BREEDING POLICY AND ACTION PLAN FOR BUFFALO BREEDING Dr. Manzoor Ahmad Senior Research Officer Buffalo Research Institute Pattoki District Kasur Buffalo Breeding in Punjab There are 20 million es in Punjab. Population trend is positive. In 1986, this number was 11.2 millions which rose to 13.1 million n in the livestock census (GOP, 1996: 2003). Distribution of es is variable across different agro-ecological zones. Most population is found in northern irrigated districts. About 4.5% of the es are raised in urban while 95.5% are raised in rural area. There is shortage of breeding bulls and coverage has been around 5%. However, bulls used for AI have good pedigree performance. The Progeny Testing for evaluation of bulls has been carried c out Livestock Production Research Institute since 1984 at a limited scale. During 2006-2007, 2007, The Buffalo Research Institute (), Pattoki District Kasur launched one of the largest Progeny Testing in Nili Ravi es s with 3 Govt. Buffalo Farms (LES, Bhunikey, Haroonabad & Chak Katora), 2 Military Buffalo Farms (Khayber & Punjnad) and in registered es of the farmers & breeders in 10 project districts; Kasur, Gujrat, Gujranwala, M. B. Din, Hafizabad, Faisalabad, T. T. Singh, Pakpattan, Vehari and Bahawalnagar. Under this program more than fifteen thousand have been registered from the field districts and a total of 2077 es (both from the field districts and three Govt. Buffalo Farms) have been declared as elite/ bull mothers on the basis of their estimated breeding values (EBVs) or Generalized Linear Solution (GLS) values. The 305-days lactation milk yield is being used as criteria trait for evaluation with animal model. The registered breeders are provided incentives in shape of free vaccination and medication of registered and their progeny. insemination, So for 1217 calves (621 male and 596 female) have been born with the inseminations of test/ proven bull semen. This program needs further expansion throughout the Punjab
Proposed Breeding Policy for Buffaloes Improvement in milk production of es through selection and d improved utilization through inter-provincial initiatives. Improvement of reproductive performance of es through reduction in age at first calving and calving interval Regulation of breeding services at institutional level as well as private initiatives Grading up of non-descript es with Nili, Ravi, and Nili-Ravi breeds in their respective home-tracts Conservation and development of recognized Nili and Ravi breeds through farmers participation Breed Characteristics NILI BREED: The Nili is one of the finest breeds in the Punjab and is well known for its various qualities. The are mostly black in color but some time brown are also seen. They possess small well-set head, hollow face with small active walled eyes. Horns are thick at the base and pointed at the tip and from well-formed rings. Ears are thin and pendulous and neck is long and thin. The tail is well-set and long, almost touching the ground. The legs are comparatively short. There is generally a big prominent udder with well placed and developed teats about 20 cm long which are a distinctive features of the breed. The skin usually is jet black, sparsely covered with fine hair. The es with white foreheads, white switch of the tail, white four legs ( Panj kalian i.e. five white extremities), wall eyes and jet black body colour form the typical specimen of the pure Nili breed. The average milk yield is 9 to 15 kg per day. RAVI BREED: The Ravi es are mostly black and brown in colour. The breed was mostly seen along the Ravi River and around the Bahadurnagar Farm in Mardani, Hassan wala, Khichhian village and Okara district. The of the this breed possess fairly big head (distinctive from that of Nili), flat forehead, thick short neck, wide hind quarters. Big soft udder with long teats. Spiral or dropped horns, Thin soft hairless oily skin and long thin tail. The milk yield varied from 7.5 to 14 kg per day. NILI RAVI BBREED: The Nili Ravi es are usually black in color but brown colour is not uncommon (10-15 percent). Wall-eyes and white marking on forehead, face, muzzle, legs and tail switch are common and are very much desired. Horns are short, broad at the base and closely curled behind the base. A few (1-2 percent) have loose hanging horns. The body is massive and barrel shaped with a deep frame. The head is long, convex in the upper third but with a depression between the orbits. It shows good depth from the angle of the jaw to the base of the horns. Nasal and frontal bones are prominent. Eyes are prominent, especially in the females. The neck is long and thin in the females and thick and powerful in the males. There is no dewlap and the umbilical fold is small. The legs are comparatively short with good bone.
The female is wedge shaped with relatively narrow forequarters and wide roomy hindquarters. The back is wide and straight between the prominent withers and the slightly sloping rump. The tail is well set on, broad at the base and tapering at ends at the fetlock or just below it in a big tuft of hair which may tail on the ground. The udder is well developed, extending far forward and backward. The teats are long, even and squarely placed and the milk veins are prominent. The average Nili-Ravi female weighs about 656 kg and male about 783 kg. Meat Production: There is a tremendous potential for production of meat through fattening of calves and those with low yielding potential and unfit for breeding. The demand for has increased primarily because consumers perceive it to have low cholesterol and more lean meat. According to some estimates about 6-7 million calves if raised on balance diet could double the meat production. Many trials on feed lot fattening have been conducted to exploit fattening potential of male calves. The results have shown that Nili Ravi calves have daily weight gain of 500-900 grams per day. Improvement in milk production Selective breeding 1. Formation of Buffalo Breeder Association in collaboration with, Pattoki, L&DD Deptt 2. Registration of breeders/ Buffalo herds/ breeders: 100 for the first year, followed 30/annum individual : Registration of breeders/ : Identification of the proper breeding stock/ breeders in the respective districts. Partial Milk Production Recording Monthly morning, evening recording for lactation yields : Performance recording and monitoring of registered under Progeny Testing of. /Breeders: Performance recording of registered the breeders under the monitoring of
Identification of elite in the milk recorded farms Through genetic evaluation for standard lactation milk yield; type and fat as traits to be added in the years to come / individual / : i) Data analysis and evaluation of registered ii) Monitoring of breeding for elite with proven bull semen Calf Raising 1) CRC at LES Bhunikey is completed ii) CRC at LES., Haroonabad & Chak Katora are under development phase. : Purchase of male calves from registered breeders under defined selection criteria : Provision of young calves to / DBI for semen collection on shared basis. Coordination in the selection of male calves. Expanding Progeny Testing Military farms also need to be added along with registered farms individual stake : Data evaluation of Military Farms (Khyber & Punjab) as per letter of agreement signed. RV& FC: Data recording and coordination with. Breed Development Maintenance of Nucleus Herds Establishment of breed specific farms in public and private sector Identification of Nili and Ravi breeds Actio n / : Coordination with for identification of breed specific farms : Coordination with for identification of specific breed farms in private and public sector Improvement in Reproductive Efficiency Reducing age at 1st calving & reduction in calving interval Reproductive performance Government farms and registered farms through improved extension services DBI/ DLDC : Research on improvement in reproductive efficiency. DBI/DLDC: Extension of technology package (developed ) to the farmers DBI: Coordination with and etc.
1. Embryo Transfer Technology/ IVF 2. Cryopreser- vation of semen Research to develop protocol for ETT/ IVF in Military Dairy Farms, Nucleus herds of DLF, and LPRI / DLF RV&FC DBI /: Conduction of trials and coordination with RV&FC, UVAS & UAF DLF: Coordination with RV&FC for the conduction of trials RV&FC: Conduction of 10 trials per year at Military Farms and coordination with and DLF. DBI: Cryopreservation of semen at SPUs Salvation of Superior Discouraging of slaughtering of breeding in Karachi and Hyderabad Subsidy on Railways transportation of back to Punjab PR L&DD individual stake PR: Provision of subsidy on transportation of L&DD: Preparation of case of subsidy for transportation of back to Punjab and sending the case to the Pakistan Railway Encouraging farmers to sell es in later parities stake : Farmers training for awareness of this program : Coordination with and farmers for implementation of this target Expansion of Organizing milk breeder competitions and shows at district and provincial level Cash awards and other incentives / individual stake /: in coordination with. Salvation of Orphan calves of Superior Discouraging of slaughtering orphan calves of Superior es sent to Karachi and Hyderabad Farmer education & implementa- tion of slaughter control act for breed able es/ Orphan calves L&DD L&DD: (i) Farmers education at Punjab level (ii) Implementation of slaughter act at Punjab level. : Coordinate with DLF for saving Orphan calves.
i) Development of district units of breeders ii) Income generating sources for the sustainability of breeders Establishment Distt. of model for Govt. Veterinary Services Network at district level DAH to improve breeders Distt. Govt.: Provision of funds for purchase of medicines, equipment and vaccines for DAH: Purchase of medicines, vaccines etc. and provision of staff for necessary service Development of breeds s Organization at district & Province level for augmenting breed improvement : i) Identity specific breeders with specific breeds ii) Development of herd book Abbreviations: AI: Artificial Insemination : Breeders Association : Buffalo Research Institute, Pattoki District Kasur CRC: Calf Raising Centre DAH: Directorate of Animal Health DBI: Directorate of Breed Improvement (new name for directorate of LPE & AI) DLDC: : District Livestock Development Centers ETT: Embryo Transfer Technology IVF: In Vitro Fertilization L&DD: Livestock & Dairy Development PR: Pakistan Railways RV& FC: : Remount Veterinary & Farms Corps UVAS: University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore DLF: Directorate of Livestock Farms