Mehsana buffalo is one of the best dairy breed of buffalo in Gujarat state. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of non-genetic factors on Age at first calving (AFC) and Wet average (WA). The data set comprised 12560 records up to three lactations of 7870 Mehsana buffaloes, sired by 200 bulls from 1989 to 2013 under field progeny testing programme of Dudhsagar Research and Development Association (DURDA), Dudhsagar Dairy, Mehsana. The least squares maximum likelihood (LSML) program was used for estimation of various non-genetic factors on AFC and WA. The least squares mean with standard error of AFC and WA were 1383.30+-3.50 days and 7.00+-0.22 lit. Highly significant (P LT 0.01) effect of season and period of birth was recorded on AFC however, effect of clusters on AFC was observed to be non-significant (P LT 0.05). Further, highly significant (P LT= 0.01) effect of all the non-genetic factors (parities, season of calving, clusters, period of calving and age at first calving group) under study was observed on wet average in Mehsana buffaloes. The heritability of AFC and WA were estimated as0.11+-0.02 and 0.34+-0.03 respectively. Heritability of traits are useful for prediction of genetic response to selection and measure for accuracy in selection. Very high and significant estimate of heritability of WA. It was concluded that selection of Mehsana buffaloes may be based on this production trait in the herd.

Eighteen apparently healthy pregnant buffaloes divided into three groups according to gestational stages, i.e. early, mid and late gestation were selected and blood samples were collected. Serum total protein, albumin, globulin and A: G ratio were estimated along with IL-1 beta. The concentration of IL-1 beta increased from early gestation to mid gestation and declined towards late gestation. Concentration of serum total protein, albumin, globulin and A: G was highest during late gestation (8.23+-0.26 g/dl), mid-gestation (3.95+-0.10 g/dl/), late gestation (4.68+-0.21 g/dl/) and early gestation (0.84+-0.12). Concentration of IL-1 beta, serum total proteins, albumin, globulin and A: G was statistically non-significant during all three stages of gestation.

This study was conducted to evaluate health care and management practices for calves less than or equal to 12 months of age in smallholder production system. Data was collected using household survey technique in Lodhran district, Punjab, Pakistan. 14 villages were selected using stratified proportionate random sampling method and 10 calf keeping households from each village were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Calves were not allowed to free range therefore all farmers practiced stall feeding. Housing facilities were of poor quality in half of farms (50.7 percent). Farmers were not using modern technologies of milk replacer, urea treated wheat straw and urea molasses blocks. All farmers offered colostrum however timings of offering differed. 75.7 percent farmers performed navel cord cutting and disinfection. All farmers offered treatment but majority (87.1 percent) practiced self-medication first. Vaccination rate was good at 94.3 percent. Almost all farmers performed drenching and dipping on their calves but there were vast differences in when and on what conditions they will be performed. Calf mortality rate for the last 12 months was 18.78 percent. Weaning age was high from modern calf rearing perspective. These findings suggest that there have been marked improvements in some parameters but farmers are still following traditional methods and practices of calf rearing due to severe lack of training related to calf rearing. There is a need for improvement in various aspects related to calf rearing including feed, housing, weaning and training.

The current study was conducted to find out the factors affecting to swamp buffalo production in Songkhram wet land area (consisting of 3 districts: Si Songkhram, Tha Uthen, and Na Wa Districts), Nakhon Phanom province, Thailand. The data were collected from 370 farmers and analyzed by using Chi-square to test association of the studied factors between farm groups (Group I: farmers who produced the swamp for fancy buffaloes and showing, and Group II: farmers who produced the buffaloes for power work and meat production) in the study population. The results showed that many factors that affected to buffalo production, such as source of knowledge used for buffalo production, patterns of buffalo production, kinds of land, objectives for buffalo production, record keeping, types of roughage, person who suggest to select buffalo, mating systems, changing sire, information for considering for replacement dams selection, age at first mating, and problem and obstacle related to the achievement of swamp buffalo production (P LT 0.01) excepted for gender of farmers, educational level and type of labor for buffalo production (P GT 0.05). This information implied the need of increasing efficiency of buffalo production, and also improvement of knowledge, understanding and chance in sire selection of the farmers.

Meat is the main source of animal protein. One type of meat that is most consumed by people is beef. The increasing price of beef due to the scarcity of beef in Indonesia, encourages the government to issue a policy of buffalo meat importation, in order to cope with the void of Indonesian meat stock. The problem is that this policy has many pros and cons from various parties. There are parties who support and there are also those who strongly oppose. Those who oppose this policy are governments in several regions and organizations that feel disadvantaged by the buffalo meat importation policy. Based on the phenomenon that occurs with the import of buffalo, in this study the authors are interested in analyzing Policy Implication of Buffalo Meat Importation to Beef Marketing: Case of Bogor, Indonesia. The method used is a Structural Equation Models (SEM) with 150 respondents. The result of this research is respondents were willing to buy and consume buffalo meat as long as the quality, health and halal were guaranteed.

Present study was designed to decipher the haemato-biochemical and hormonal profile following bypass nutrient supplementation in Murrah buffaloes during early lactation. Forty Murrah buffaloes just after parturition divided randomly into four equal groups and fed basal diet constituting common green fodder and wheat straw, while two different types of concentrates mixture (CM) having 25 (CM1, for group fed control or bypass fat, BPF diet) and 40 percent (CM2 for group fed bypass protein, BPP and BPP with BPF, BPPF diet) of BPP using variable feed ingredients in CM. Animals of group BPF and BPPF additionally fed 15 g bypass fat (long chain fatty acid of calcium salt) for each kg of milk produced for initial 90 days of lactation. Blood sampling was carried out at 0 day (before starting supplementation) and thereafter at an interval of one month, till 120th day after parturition, to find out the effect of supplementation as well is after effects. Significant reduction (P LT 0.05) in serum urea on day 60 was observed in bypass protein fed groups (BPP and BPPF) remains indicative of efficient nitrogen utilization. Thus overall mean total protein in bypass protein fed groups (BPP and BPPF) was higher (P LT 0.05) than control group. Values of albumin also on day 90 (P LT 0.01), 120 (P LT 0.05) as well as overall mean remained higher (P LT 0.001) in group fed CM high in rumen protected protein (BPP and BPPF) than groups fed low bypass protein CM (control and BPF). Supplementation of BPPF improved (P LT 0.05) overall mean cholesterol level as compared to control. Reduction (P LT 0.05) in low density lipoprotein values was observed on day 60 in BPF group as compared to others, while overall mean high density lipoprotein (HDL) in bypass protein fed groups (BPP and BPPF) was found to be higher (P LT 0.01) as compared to others. IGF-1and BHBA showed non-significant difference in all treated groups at different intervals in addition of haematological parameters. It may be concluded that feeding of bypass protein (BPP and BPPF) improved serum overall total protein, albumin, cholesterol and HDL in post-parturient Murrah buffaloes during early lactation.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of soluble carbohydrate and protein supplementation on feed digestibility and rumen characteristics of swamp buffaloes fed total mixed fiber (TMF) silage by using an in vitro technique. A completely randomized design with 3 treatments (soluble carbohydrate (SCH) and protein ratio) and 6 replicates was used. Treatments consisted of total mixed fiber silage rations with SCH: protein ratio of 300 g : 300 g (1 : 1) (A1), SCH : protein ratio of 600 g : 300 g (2 : 1) (A2), and SCH : protein ratio of 900 g : 300 g (3 : 1) (A3). Measurements were taken on nutrient digestibility rates (dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, and crude fiber), fiber digestibility rates (NDF, ADF, cellulose, and hemicellulose), and rumen fermentation condition (concentrations of RAN, total VFA, acetate, propionate, butyrate, and methane and pH). Results showed that significant effects (P LT 0.05) of treatments were found on nutrient digestibility rates (dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, crude fiber, ADF, cellulose, and hemicellulose), rumen fermentation conditions (concentrations of RAN, total VFA, acetate, propionate, butyrate, and CH4). Meanwhile, no effects (P GT 0.05) of treatments were found on NDF digestibility and pH levels. It was concluded that TMF silage ration supplemented with SCH and protein ratio of 3 : 1 (900 g : 300 g) gave the best results in terms of nutrient digestibility rates and rumen fermentation condition of swamp buffaloes.

This research examined the effects of storage temperature and storage time on the somatic cell count (SCC) of milk from Anatolian buffaloes, which was measured with the DeLaval cell counter (DCC). Storage temperature and time are among the different factors that potentially affect the SCC of Anatolian buffalo milk. In this context, 20 milk samples were collected from Anatolian Buffaloes and analyzed. The milk samples were divided into two groups according to their measured level of SCC. These two groups were the low score (LT= 3.16 cell/ml) group and the high score (GT 3.16 cell/ml) group. The mean logSCC values of the low score and the high score groups were determined as 2.27+-0.045 and 4.06+-0.019 cells/ml, respectively. In this research, the effects of storage temperature (4 deg C, 21 deg C) and storage time (fresh milk, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 24 h) on logSCC were determined to be statistically significant (P LT 0.01). Thus, increases in storage temperature and storage time were associated with an increase in the logSCC of the milk samples. In this study, the effects of storage temperature (4 deg C, 21 deg C) and storage time (fresh milk, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 24 hours) on logSCC were determined to be statistically significant (P LT 0.01). Thus, increases in storage temperature and storage time were associated with an increase in the logSCC of the milk samples.

Buffalo milk is the most preferred commodity in Pakistan due to high fat contents. Hydrolysis of circulating triglycerides and uptake of fatty acids in the mammary gland is regulated by lipoprotein lipase (LPL). This study is designed to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in LPL gene among high and low milk producing buffalo breeds of Pakistan. We selected samples (n=50) of each Nili-Ravi a high milk producing and Azakheli a low milk producing buffalo breeds. Blood samples were collected for DNA extraction. LPL region of exon 2 region along with exon/intron boundaries were sequenced and data was analyzed for variation detection. Allele frequency was calculated using Hardy-Weinberg equation and in-silico analysis was performed for functional prediction and genetic diversity assessment. We found one single nucleotide polymorphism c.258+43C GT T in the intronic region of LPL gene. This polymorphism followed the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in both Nili-Ravi (P-value = 0.538) and Azakheli (P-value = 0.077). Association of T-allele analysis predicted it significantly higher (P-value = 0.009) in Nili-Ravi. We found one novel SNP (c.258+43C GT T) in the LPL gene in both high and low milk producing buffalo breeds of Pakistan but high in Nili-Ravi. Lower splice site effect suggests its less strength of association with milk producing trait.

The study reports the physicochemical content of raw and pasteurization milk from Bhadawari, Mehsana and Nagpuri Indian buffalo breeds. The study demonstrated the protein, fat, lactose, total solid content, and percentage of casein of the raw milk for Nagpuri, Mehsana and Bhadawari as 4.5+-0.51, 5.4+-0.62, 4.8+-0.41, 7.2+-0.32, 6.1+-0.66, 7.0+-0.84, 5.4+-0.65, 6.2+-0.65, 5.1+-0.54, 17.2+-1.21, 18.8+-1.54, 18.1+-1.22, 10.8+-1.20, 11.4+-1.02 and 11.5+-0.98 respectively. The study further extended to determine the growth profile of Lactobacillus plantarum (LAB) isolated from sheep milk, in the milk of different buffalo Indian breeds. The isolate was identified as a LAB by 16S rRNA sequencing technique. These LAB thrived in the different milk were characterized by colony forming unit (CFU). The study finally revealed that CFU count was found significantly higher (P LT 0.05) in Mehsana milk as comparative to other milk treated samples of Nagpuri and Bhadawari buffalos.