MURRAH BUFFALO

by David Nuttle

Murrah Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) originating in the Haryana State, of India, are now used in several tropical & sub-tropical areas for dairy, meat, hide, and draft. They are black and a medium size short, tightly curved horns. Milk produced is higher in protein and butterfat than dairy cows, the meat is good, and hides are thick. This milk is prized for making Mozzarella cheese, ghee, butter, and yogurts due to its elasticity, creamy texture, & delicate flavor. In addition, the milk is an A2 casein variant of milk desired by people with milk allergies. Cows have a first calf at 36-months and typically produce almost 20-years.

I helped the Govt. of South Vietnam start a Murrah Buffalo Dairy after all the Holstien dairy cows they had imported died from tropical diseases within 6-months after arrival in Vietnam. USAID thus purchased and imported our Murrah, for this government, from India. Murrah do not have problems with tropical diseases and provide all the above said advantages offering many benefits for tropical & sub-tropical areas. The Murrah do require adequate potable water intake and good high protein forage. Murrah Daries are most economical if they have a drip-irrigation system and land that will sustain year-long forage production in a warm climate. For crop fertility, biochar inoculated with cultured soil microbes should be added to soils, at a rate of about 08 percent of the volume of root-zone soils. The microbes making homes in biochar cavities will produce all the plant nutrients needed by forage crops.

The Murrah buffalo I worked with in Vietnam were like friendly puppy-dogs. They were part of SVN's Hung Loc Ag Research Station several miles north of Saigon. The station had a large pond with clean water were the station work crew would take noon swimming breaks to help mitigate the heat. All our Murrah buffalo would follow us to the pond and take a swim as we all did. In areas with cold winters, a Murrah Dairy operation would need greenhouses to shelter the buffalo with other greenhouses to grow enough forage for the buffalo. I don't yet know the economics of a greenhouse dairy. I do know that culinary markets have a very strong demand for the healthful food products derived from Murrah buffalo milk produced at a typical rate of almost 20 liters daily per buffalo cow.