Improving domestic buffalo production in Asia

The role of the water buffalo in S.E. Asia is described and an assessment made of the current limitations to increasing meat, milk and draught output from buffaloes, and of the type of research needed to provide the answers to reduce these constraints. It is suggested that the greatest need is for work on feeding regimes (based on low-quality roughages, agro-industrial byproducts, non-protein N and minerals), and on buffalo reproduction so that the potential of the buffalo for production can be properly assessed and hence exploited. Such work can only be meaningfully conducted if researchers collaborate with field veterinarians and carry out their studies on representative samples of animals kept on small holdings and experimental stations. (author)