ABSTRACT
Buffalo production is traditional and very important in the rice culture
for draught and meat production of Vietnam. Swamp type buffaloes
constitute the majority of the population in Vietnam. In 1995 the total
buffalo population was 2,963,400 head (Lich, 1996). Murrah buffaloes
have also been imported from India and China, however, the number are
small for several reasons. Buffaloes in the Mekong delta (MD) are large
in size as compared to those of other regions in Vietnam (Thu, 1987).
Average live weight of adult swamp buffalo cows of Vietnam is about
420kg and about 480kg for the adult males. Adult live weight of Murrah
buffaloes raised in Vietnam was about 460kg and 595kg for the females
and males, respectively (Xuong, 1981). Average dressing percentage of
swamp buffaloes is about 45% and age at first calving is from 3.5 to 4.5
years. The pregnancy duration varies from 330 to 345 days and the
buffalo cows normally give 2 calves per 3 years. In northern Vietnam
buffaloes work singly, while in the south they normally work in pairs,
and are able to plough from 0.3 to 0.4 ha/pair/day. Feeding is based on
extensive grazing with rice straw and other crop residues also used
during the dry season. Some of the important diseases of buffaloes are
Pasteurellosis, Foot and Mouth disease, liver fluke and bloat. There is
a lack of studies on resources to improve the swamp buffalo performance.
Key words: Swamp buffaloes, Murrah buffaloes, live weight, performance,
feeding and diseases
INTRODUCTION
The swamp buffalo is an important animal in Vietnam for the
preparation and cultivation of the rice fields. In addition they provide
meat for the people and manure as a important fertilizer source. From
1990 to 1995, although the total population has increased by 0.73%
annually, there has been a significant reduction of their numbers in
both the Mekong delta (MD) and the Hong river delta. In 1995 the buffalo
population in Vietnam declined slightly because of an increasing use of
tractors and increasing area under cultivation, which has resulted in a
reduction in grazing land. Despite this, a participatory rural appraisal
in 1994 in MD showed that many farmers still continue to raise buffaloes
for land preparation, to ensure timeliness of seeding, and for profit
from the sale of calves and meat (Ogle, 1994). Murrah buffaloes have
been imported and raised at several state farms of the country in order
to evaluate their potential for milk production. However, their
development has been limited due to lack of research resources and the
fact that results from swamp buffalo have showed promise. Farmers in
Vietnam have traditional experience in buffalo raising but techniques
are primitive and are not widely applied in the rural areas to exploit
their considerable potential for supplying draught power, beef, milk and
manure. Therefore, their potential should be studied and suggestions for
future research are necessary to help farmers to improve productivity in
sustainable farming systems.
POPULATION AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Recently, the rate of increase in the population of native buffalo in
Vietnam has slowed and in 1995 there was a small reduction in the
population due to a decrease in the grazing land as a result of an
increase in the area under cultivation (table 1), in particular in the
MD and Hong river delta provinces where the buffaloes are grazed
extensively. However, there has been an increase in numbers in the
mountainous and high-land areas, where grazing lands are still available
(table 2).
Table 1. Recent buffalo and cattle population changes in Vietnam
(thousand head)
________________________________________________________________________
Year Buffalo Cattle
_________________________________________________________________________
1990 2,854.1 3,120.8
1991 2,885.6 3,151.0
1992 2,883.4 3,193.8
1993 2,960.8 3,353.0
1994 2,971.1 3,466.7
1995 2,963.1 3,638.7
__________________________________________________________________________
Source: Lich (1996)
Table 2. Buffalo population distribution (%) in Vietnam
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Region Percentage (%)
__________________________________________________________________________
Mountainous and up-land areas in the North 51.8
Hong river delta 8.60
Central areas 28.2
South-eastern provinces 6.38
Mekong river delta 4.96
_________________________________________________________________________
Source: Lich (1996)
Swamp buffaloes in Vietnam are similar in appearance to those in China,
Thailand, Cambodia, etc. Adult swamp buffaloes are smaller than Murrah
buffaloes, particularly the males. Buffaloes in the Mekong delta tend to
be larger size than in other regions (table 3). Thu (1987) also reported
that swamp buffaloes in Dong Thap province of the Mekong delta were the
biggest in Vietnam with an average live weight of 593 kg for adult
females and 706 kg for males.
Table 3. Basic measurements and live weights of adult Swamp and Murrah
buffaloes in Vietnam
______________________________________________________________________________
Region Mekong South-eastern Central Northern Murrah
Criteria delta(1) provinces(2) area(3) provinces(3) buffaloes(4)
______________________________________________________________________________
Females
Height at 127 126 121 118 131
withers (cm)
Length of 141 132 128 127 143
body (cm)
Heart 192 193 191 180 195
girth (cm)
Live weight 458 434 417 358 457
(kg)
Males
Height at 131 129 129 121 138
wither (cm)
Length of 143 135 136 133 154
body (cm)
Heart 198 197 198 190 207
girth (cm)
Live weight 494 464 494 428 595
(kg)
______________________________________________________________________________
Source: (1)Thu (1987), (2)Hoang (1978), (3)Thac (1985) and (4)Xuong (1981)
PHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND REPRODUCTIVITY
Physiological criteria measured early in the morning are shown in table
4. Body temperature and pulse of Swamp buffaloes were lower than those
of the Murrah, while respiration rate was higher in the Swamp buffaloes.
Results are similar to those reported by Hoang (1978). Blood plasma
protein of the Swamp buffalo was lower than in the Murrah, while
erythrocyte and leukocyte counts and hematocrit were similar.
Table 4.
Average physiological characteristics (mean ñ std) of swamp and
Murrah buffaloes over four years of age in Vietnam
________________________________________________________________________
Breed Swamp Murrah
Criteria (both sexes) (female)
______________________________________________________________________________
Body temperature 37.4 - 37.8 38.0ñ 0.27
(o C )
Pulse (beats/min) 38.6 - 44.7 45.2ñ 2.95
Respiration rate 25.6 - 29.4 15.2ñ 1.77
(beats/min)
Erythrocyte count 6,0 ñ 0.72(2) 5.83(1)
(million/ml)
Leukocyte count 12.1ñ 2.24(2) 12.8(1)
(thousand/ml)
Hematocrit (%) 28.2 ñ 1.60(2) 28.6(1)
Blood plasma 6.53 ñ 0.90(3) 7.34ñ 0.46(3)
protein (g%)
______________________________________________________________________________
Source: (1)Hoang (1978), (2)Bay and Dong (1991), Xuong (1981 and 1987)
and(3) Thac (1985).
In the Swamp buffaloes, age at first calving is from 3.5 - 4.5 years and
pregnancy duration from 330 - 345 days. The majority of swamp cows gives
two calves per three years and one calf per year. The total life time
number of calves produced is variable, ranging from 5 - 10 due to
variations in work load and nutrition. The estrus cycle was found to be
28 days. In Murrah buffaloes raised at the Buffalo Research Center in
Song Be province, pregnancy duration was found to be 306ñ 4.48 days
(mean+std), calving interval 494ñ 68.2 days and the estrus cycle 23.1ñ
2.29 days. Average live weight at birth was 27.7ñ 3.47 kg for females
and 29.7ñ 4.09 kg for males (Xuong, 1981).
MEAT, MILK AND WORK PERFORMANCE
The mean carcass weight of adult swamp buffaloes reported from the North
of Vietnam was 187 kg with the live weight at slaughter of 428 kg
(Hoang, 1978). It can be seen in table 5, that the carcass weight and
live weight were higher at slaughter in the Mekong delta. Recently, Thu
(1997) reported that the average daily milk yield of swamp buffaloes
from the first to the fifth month of lactation in Mekong delta was
1.50kg, and the average milk fat 11.9% on a sacciolepis indica diet, and
8.68% on a diet of eleocharis dulcis and rice straw diet under village
conditions. In the South of Vietnam swamp buffaloes usually work in
pairs, while they normally work singly in the North. The ploughing
capacity was found to be 630m2/half day/animal (Thac, 1979). For Murrah
buffaloes the carcass percentage and milk yield were found to be higher
than in the Swamp buffaloes, although milk fat percentage of the Murrah
was lower than that of the Swamp buffaloes.
Table 5. Meat and milk output and working performance of buffaloes
in Vietnam
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Breed Swamp Murrah
Criteria
______________________________________________________________________________
Meat production
Live weight (kg) 592(1) 374(3)
Carcass (kg) 277(1) 54-67%(3)
Meat (kg) 215(1) -
Milk production
Lactation period (day) 210-360(2) 236ñ 57.3(4)
Milk yield (kg/day) 1.20- 3.45(2) 5.55(4)
Milk fat (%) 8.31- 15.0(2) 7.36(5)
Working capacity
Ploughing (ha/pair/day) 0.30(1) -
Harrowing (ha/pair/day) 0. 73(1) -
______________________________________________________________________________
Source: (1) Thu (1987), (2)Thac (1985), (3)Ognjanovic et al (1970),
(4) Xuong (1981) and (5)Thu (1979)
MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Rural farmers in Vietnam have a long tradition and experience of buffalo
raising, but techniques are mostly primitive. Management practices are
based on extensive systems and buffaloes are freely grazed on natural
grass lands, forests, roadsides, canal banks, rice fields after
harvesting and dikes, etc. They are also fed with rice straw or other
crop residues in the dry season and working season. They are
occasionally supplemented with rice bran, broken rice soup, raw sugar or
honey when farmers feel that their animals are in poor condition for
working. Farmers normally do not fatten buffaloes, but middle men
occasionally buy and fatten them by good quality grass lands for sale.
They are mainly slaughtered when they are not able to work due to old
age or as a result of accidents. Housing for buffaloes is simple and
made of local materials such as wood or bamboo, with a palm leaves roof,
and they are also tethered in the gardens or fields by nose strings.
Selection of draught buffaloes has been made according to the farmers’
experience, usually taking into account physical characters such as
large size, high fore quarters as compared to hind quarters, tameness,
appetite, wet nose, glossy hair, long and curved horns pointing forward
(“wind-presenting horns”). Farmers also pay attention to hair swirls,
usually prefer animals that have 4-5 swirls, two on the shoulder, two on
the buttocks and one on the face. Hair swirls considered to be unlucky
are Lachrymal, joke-resisting, inguinal and vulval. Breeding however has
been neglected, except that farmers mate cows to good bulls, regardless
of the risk of inbreeding, and usually a field-master bull mates all
cows in a given area (Thu, 1987). The important diseases of buffaloes in
Vietnam are Pasteurellosis, Foot and Mouth disease, bloat, diarrhea,
etc. (Tam, 1985). Hung (1993) reported that liver fluke was a serious
problem in some areas in the Mekong delta, while blood parasitic
diseases have also been reported, including were Anaplasmosis,
Babesiellosis and Trypanosomiasis. Murrah buffaloes were also reported
to be more heavily infected with parasites than Swamp buffaloes (Hung,
1985). Recently, a veterinary network in rural areas has been more
developed with aim of vaccinating buffaloes twice a year before the
rainy seasons and dry seasons mainly against Pasteurellosis. Development
of buffalo production in Vietnam has slowed in recent years, while the
requirements for milk, meat, draught power, manure and energy has
increased, due to a growing human population and higher incomes. Buffalo
nutrition and feeds, crossbreeding strategies, disease prevention and
treatment and development of sustainable farming systems need to be
studied in order to improve the multipurpose uses of both Swamp and
Murrah buffalo such as meat, draft, milk, fuel (biogas) and fertilizer.
Increased local-international research co-operation is required to
increase production from buffalo, particularly the Swamp buffalo, which
is declining in population in Asian countries.
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