RESEARCH WORK
Presence and perspective of buffaloes in Cuba
L. Simón y M. Galloso
Estación Experimental de Pastos y Forrajes "Indio Hatuey" Central España Republicana, CP 44280, Matanzas, Cuba
E-mail: leonel.simon@indio.atenas.inf.cu
ABSTRACT
Buffaloes were introduced in the country in the early 80's, in order to produce food for human consumption. The criteria followed for their introduction were their rusticity and utilization of feedstuffs with low nutritional quality, their possibilities for extensive rearing in places where cattle and other species could not produce, in addition to the nutritional and industrial qualities of their products. The breeds present in Cuba are Buffalypso and the swamp buffalo or Carabao, the latter used for meat production due to its low milk yields, for which a genetic program of crossing between them is being conducted in order to improve their dairy characteristics. It has been proven that they can dissipate heat under the shade of trees in the paddocks and maintain a high birth rate (more than 80%) which exceeds that of cattle; nevertheless, their milk production is especially extensive due to the low stocking rates (0,6-0,8 animals/ha) that must be used in grazing, due to their feeding habits and the productive capacities of the Buffalypso breed (700 and 1 000 kg of milk per lactation). For such reason, dairy improvement by crossings with higher-potential breeds and the transformation of the feeding basis where they are located, can make positive contributions in the intensification of their production and increase their competitiveness with cattle regarding milk production.
Key words: Evolution, production, reproduction, water buffalo.
INTRODUCTION
The buffalo herd has reached a remarkable increase in the planet in recent years; at present its milk production represents around 10% throughout the world and its meat production is also significant (Ligda, 2001).
The production of this species in Cuba, as well as in some Latin American countries, in tropical areas of Asia and some of Africa, constitutes an important alternative for human feeding as source of protein from animal origin, with high biological value in multipurpose exploitations, a little underestimated due to the economic characteristics of extensive production (FAO, 2000).
Buffalo production has special interest for satisfying the feeding ration of human beings, particularly in tropical areas, because these animals stand diseases, convert and utilize feedstuffs in places where cattle is incapable of doing this and produce high-quality milk and abundant meat; in addition they serve as work animals and have high plasticity of adaptation to different environmental conditions of the tropics (Brito, 2006).
Buffaloes, in order to control body temperature, use baths and mud-holes, but they can also thermoregulate under shade, particularly the one naturally provided by trees and shrubs in paddocks (Brito, 2006; Simón and Galloso, 2008b).
On the other hand, they reach high productions and good reproductive performance on natural and moderate-quality pastures, responding positively to feeding and management improvements (Moser, 2001), for which buffalo rearing is advised in places with abundant shade and high-protein pastures, considering that even under natural pasture conditions it is not as selective as cattle and makes a better utilization of feedstuffs (Planas, 2005).
They are considered very prolific and long-living animals, because many cases have been reported of buffalo cows with 20 parturitions and older than 25 years. The pregnancy period is approximately one month longer than in cattle, estrum is hard to detect and most matings occur at night, which implies that breeders find more troubles than in cattle rearing (Ligda, 1998). Average birth rate is 82% and with excellent management conditions it varies between 85 and 100% (Planas, 2005).
The objective of this review is to present the characteristics of these animals in Cuba and their productive possibilities.
Origin and evolution
According to Mitat (2009) water buffaloes were introduced in the 80's of the 20th century at the Los Naranjos Genetic Livestock Production Enterprise. A total of 6 307,4 ha of land were conditioned in a coastal swamp strip south of Havana province in order to produce food for human consumption.
The criteria for their import were their rusticity, the utilization of low-nutritional quality feedstuffs and the semi-aquatic habits that made them ideal for extensive rearing in zones where cattle and other species could not survive, in addition to the nutritional and industrial qualities of their products. These concepts were the basis for the program that was later developed. The initial purpose was acquiring river animals due to their higher productive characteristics, especially dairy ones.
An amount of 2 984 animals were acquired, among them 279 were river buffaloes (Buffalypso) and 2 705 were swamp buffaloes or Carabao, as they are also known.
The Buffalypso breed is the product of the selection made on a herd which in Trinidad and Tobago had been indiscriminately mixed among the Indian breeds (Bhadawwasi, Jaffarabadi, Murrah, Nili-Ravi and Surti) which arrived at those islands with the English colonizers and their objective was to select a meat-producing buffalo.
Buffalo herds in Cuba are distributed along the 14 provinces and the special municipality Isle of Youth with more than 50 000 animals, which means that in 22 years the population increased in 21,7% (December, 2005), placing this species among those with higher increase rate in the country (CENCOP, 2005) and in 2009 they reached the number of 63 050 heads.
In Latin America the estimated stock of buffaloes amounts to more than 3,8 million animals (FAO, 2000) and in the world it exceeds 202 millions (Anuario, 2008).
Characteristics of the species
The swamp buffalo is purplish gray in color, has a slanted neck, with massive backswept horns. It is mainly used as a work animal, for meat production and seldom for milk production (González, 1999), while the river buffalo is generally black or dark gray, with tightly curled horns and it produces more milk than the swamp buffalo (Scannone, 2009).
River buffaloes, represented in the country by the Buffalypso breed, have physiological parameters similar to those of cattle, but the presence of water is essential for their performance and fight against thermal stress (Di Palo et al., 2001) or instead they must have plenty of shade (Galloso et al., 2009a).
The advantages as compared to cattle, according to Planas (2005) are the following:
• Their high birth rate and long productive life (25 years and more).
• High rusticity and low mortality rate, they are resistant to ticks and other parasites.
• They produce milk with a high fat content and high-quality meat, with 40% less cholesterol and 12% less fat.
• The offspring grow faster.
• Their adaptation to difficult feeding and exploitation conditions.
• Their production is considered almost organic.
Among their disadvantages as compared to cattle are:
• They show seasonal estrus mainly in September and December and the parturitions occur in a concentrated way between July and October (Paiva, 2005). This determines an unstable production which hinders the commercialization of milk and dairy products. In Cuba 65% of the parturitions have been observed to occur in August-October, with the subsequent damage for livestock production organization (Campo, 1997).
• They are timid and easily frightened by nature, for which they must be quietly and calmly treated and as they grow older the pacific interaction among males becomes difficult in the presence of cows, as they seek leadership (García and Planas, 2001).
• They have a strong survival instinct and without feed they break fences; this is one of the reasons why they walk incessantly and destroy fences and plantations, in addition to having a remarkable trend to scratch against trees peeling their bark off and causing severe damage. Another way in which they damage trees is related to their browsing and bark-chewing habits.
• Off-season parturitions, since December, reduce production and shorten lactation periods (García, 2010).
Feeding
Differences are reported in some indicators of digestive physiology and nutrition in favor of buffalos as compared to cattle (Abdullah et al., 1990) when analyzing their good fiber utilization, as well as a higher capacity of feed intake.
The buffalo shows high efficiency in nutrient utilization, which brings about accelerated growth since early ages (Mendoza, 2002), although emphasis is made on the fact that it is essential to feed the animals since the start with a diet that covers the requirements of the species and particularly of each category, thus the animals grow and manifest their productive and reproductive potential (Paiva, 2005).
It is also reported that in buffaloes there is higher digestibility of fat, calcium, phosphorus and non-protein nitrogen when they eat natural or cultivated pastures (Campo, 1997).
Their natural resistance prevents them from having nutritional-type diseases, which allows using simpler and cheaper inputs and equipment. Campo (1996) states that in the Brazilian Amazonas this species has fruitfully developed due to its rusticity and exceptional qualities for utilizing low-quality feedstuffs.
The diets should be formulated avoiding excess of starch and protein. The best results have been obtained using green forages and limiting the concentrate usage because buffaloes use nitrogen more efficiently when eating diets without carbohydrates. In this sense, López et al. (2005) corroborated the capacity of buffaloes to better utilize protein from the diet because of a higher microbial activity; in addition, the microbial populations of the rumen of buffaloes are higher than those of cattle.
It has been proven that whole cereal grains are poorly digested. The excretion of non-digested cereal grains in the feces is increased with the increase of particle size. Wheat turned out to be better in buffalo supplementation as compared to other cereals such as rice and corn (Wadwa et al., 2002).
According to Planas and García (2002) the water needs are of 45 L for maintenance and 43 L for milk production.
Performance under grazing conditions
In Brazil it has been observed that increasing the number of buffaloes per hectare decreases the pregnancy percentage from 93,3 to 71,1% (Baruselli, 1994); together with this is the deterioration of body condition, which also decreases when increasing population density under grazing conditions.
According to García and Planas (2003) areas of approximately 80 hectares are recommended for exploiting 30 buffalo cows, 5 cow replacements, 3 bull replacements, 1 stud and the offspring born in the year of exploitation (28 to 30), which would represent a stocking rate of one animal equivalent to 500 kg of live weight per hectare.
However, it is advisable that the stocking rate is periodically checked depending on the instantaneous stock and the pasture availability and especially in the dry season the stocking rate should be reduced (Simón and Galloso, 2008a).
In the floodable savannas of Venezuela, continuous grazing is commonly practiced; nevertheless, the division of the area into paddocks for making an alternate grazing could seem a valid choice for the species. In this case, grazing with 40-60 resting days is adequate for high savannas (Tejos, 1994).
The utilization of electric fences is efficient for the division into paddocks or enclosed pastures due to the respect buffaloes show for them (Sistebuf, 2005).
This species is easily adapted to adverse environmental conditions, so common in tropical zones, however, the increase of body temperature as a result of solar radiations and perceived heat, together with the scarcity of sweat glands, is an element to be considered in buffalo production systems, where agroforestry systems play an important role for providing a comfort environment (Brito, 2006). In addition, under tropical climate conditions, buffaloes are known to graze in the fresher daily hours or at any time if they have access to shade (Salazar, 2000) as a way to regulate body temperature.
In this sense, Galloso et al. (2009a) found in growing animals and with day grazing, that the ingestion activity increased with age and that ingestion and rumination were influenced by relative humidity and temperature, with a movement of rumination towards the night hours. They also observed an increase of the browsing activity in the rainy season as compared to the dry season, an increase in the grazing activity under tree shade and a higher mobility of the animals in the third and last day of stay in the paddocks in order to seek feed.
On the other hand, Caraballoso et al. (2009) in the northern wetland of the Ciego de Ávila province determined that adult buffaloes dedicate most of the time to the grazing activity, with trends to increasing it in the first three hours of day and the highest rumination values occurred between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., coinciding with the midday hours; the movement towards other areas was done between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. (hottest hours of the day), which coincides with the report by Planas (2005) under normal exploitation conditions.
Galloso et al. (2009b) reported about the preference of Leucaena leucocephala and Albizia lebbeck over Gliricidia sepium and Moringa oleifera in acceptability tests in feeding troughs; and the good intake of forages from such grasses as king grass, sugarcane and others, is also known.
Reproduction
Buffaloes are considered slow in their reproductive maturation and their post-partum reincorporation. Management deficiencies have highly contributed to this behavior.
The reproductive life of buffalo cows lasts until they are 25 years old, being common that they raise 15-18 calves in that period (Benítez, 2006). The live weight of calves at birth varies between 37 and 41 kg. In this sense, Urdaneta (2008) reported 39±11 kg in Venezuela.
Among the reproductive indicators, it is important to mention the rapid process of uterine involution (Perera et al., 1987) and the restart of the ovarian activity in the species (Jainudeen, 1986), which allows obtaining a parturition interval between 12 and 13 months although this species has a pregnancy duration of 315 days, similar to the observations made in Zebu cattle.
In some countries crossings are made between swamp (Carabao) and river buffaloes in order to improve the productivity of the former and solve through the management of milk- producing animals their docility, because long interparturition periods (two years) have been reported for swamp buffaloes in extensive rearing (Cruz, 2001).
Fertility can be higher in F1 and decline in F2 and F3 in the case of cows (Hincapié, 2000) and regarding the bulls, there is a high infertility percentage since the first generation (Bascur et al., 1988); although these disturbances in the cows do not occur equally in all herds and crossings, at present most hybrids procreate normally (Quesada, 2001).
In China through a triple crossing among the breeds, Murrah, Nili Rabi and Carabao the entrance to puberty, the parturition-first estrus interval, as well as the parturition-parturition interval could be reduced.
The seasonal reproductive behavior of water buffaloes is still a polemic problem worldwide. According to Vale (2002), the buffalo is a continuous polyestrous animal, capable of reproducing throughout the year, as long as it is under good management and exploitation conditions.
In Venezuela, most parturitions occur between August and October (Asobufalo, 1992) and in Cuba 65% of the parturitions can take place in the same period (Campo et al., 2005); however, Mitat (2001) reported that in the Los Naranjos Livestock Production Enterprise, 75% occur between July and November.
Regarding the buffalo heifers the age at first parturition according to Vale et al. (2001) fluctuates between 32 and 35 months, while Lall (2001) reported from 38 to 45 months of age, even in poorly-fed heifers.
Milk production
Buffalo products are an important and renowned food source in many developing countries and they have been transforming into a good business opportunity (De Bernardi, 2001).
Buffalo cows have high maternal ability and this produces a positive effect on milk release, which is due to the great care they show for their offspring. According to this condition it is recommended that after milking they should remain at least 30 minutes with their calves (Anon, 2006).
An element that has influenced the emphasis which is being given to buffalo development for milk and meat production is given, among other aspects, by the similarity of some of its characteristics with cattle, for which small adaptations are necessary for adjusting the exploitation conditions from one species to the other. In this sense, Angulo et al. (2005) stated that buffaloes are animals with yields comparable to those from their commercial cattle competitors.
In Cuba, Simón and López (2008) compared the main indicators of milk production in two herds of Siboney 5/8 Holstein x 3/8 Zebu cows and Buffalypso cows, with similar management and exploitation characteristics; the results are shown in table 1.
A higher milk production per lactating cow was found in the Siboney cows, but with a lower percentage in the fat content in milk, which balanced the individual production of both species (corrected at 3% fat).
Regarding production per hectare, indicator that expresses the intensification level of systems, the whole and corrected milk production of the cows exceeds in five and three times, respectively, the production of buffalo cows.
According to the stocking rate (1,6 Siboney cows/ha and 0,6 buffalo cows + calves/ha), the historical production of these herds was 108 175 kg average in 8 years in the cows and 38 325 kg in the buffalo cows in 3 years.
It should be stated that although the results showed a much higher degree of intensification in cattle milk production, the buffalo cows did not receive any type of supplementation with concentrates at that time.
On the other hand, Simón and Galloso (2008a) could double the stocking rate in Buffalypso cows in production systems with leucaena with the rational silvopastoral system technology and the results were higher (0,72 kg milk/cow/day; 279,8 kg/lactation; 1,49 kg/ha/day) as compared to grass monocrop without trees; in addition, lactation lasted for 42 more days.
The milk composition, and especially the fat percentages, which determine milk quality (Duarte et al., 2001), can vary in buffalo cows according to breed, season, lactation status, number of parturitions, age, feeding and climatic conditions.
The calcium and phosphorus contents have high nutritional value and cause that curding for the cheese occurs rapidly. In addition, buffalo cow milk has more calories and vitamin A than cow milk (Andrade et al., 2009).
These characteristics of buffalo milk make it very good for elaborating yoghurt and excellent creams, butter and cheese, giving special texture and consistency to milk derivatives.
In Italy the mozzarella and ricotta cheeses are produced with high success in the market (Zicarelli, 2001) like others that are produced in Brazil (Campo, 1996). Buffalo cow milk, like that from cows and ewes, is used almost exclusively for elaborating cheese in some countries, especially due to the high cheese yield and high solid content (Rosati and Van Vleck, 2007). According to Morillo (2009), with 100 liters of buffalo cow milk 25 kg of legitimate mozzarella cheese can be obtained.
The main characteristics of buffalo cow milk, as compared to other species, are shown in table 2.
River buffalo cows have mean productions between 500 and 750 liters of milk in 150-180 days of lactation (Ligda, 1998).
In Cuba, in a study conducted between 1997 and 1999 in 714 lactations of 401 buffalo cows, 832 milk liters were obtained as average in lactations of about 240 days, for a daily average per cow of 3,47 liters (CENCOP, 2000).
According to Mitat et al. (2007) the highest productions were reached in September and October with 3,20 kg/day, and since November they started to decrease until June, when the lowest value was found (2,31 kg/day) due to the higher occurrence of parturitions in the first months.
García (2010) reported that the productive performance of Buffalypso cows was higher than crossbreds in animals fed with pastures (2,7 and 3,3 kg of milk/cow/day) and with a lactation duration of 200 days. It was also observed that the parturitions that occur off season have a negative incidence on milk production and lactation duration and that production increased from the first to the fifth lactation.
In Cuba, milk yield studies were conducted in 5 697 lactations (since 1997-2006) in Buffalypso and crossbred Buffalypso-Carabao cows and the average production was 710 kg in 218 days of lactation (Brito, 2006).
Meat production
The potential of buffaloes for producing meat is a practice that has been enhanced in recent years; according to Angulo et al. (2002) and Vale (2002) water buffalo performs better than cattle under equal management and exploitation conditions in many tropical countries.
The perspective of developing countries in buffalo rearing for meat is to slaughter the animals as young as possible, which has the advantage of the efficiency of feed conversion and that the accumulation of fatty tissue is lower as compared to older animals.
In this particularity the buffalo has advantage over cattle, because it reaches full development in little time, which is translated into more meat in less time and at a lower cost (Bautista et al., 2002).
The organoleptic characteristics and physical-chemical properties in the meat of both species do not significantly differ, although buffalo meat has less fat and the protein content is higher (table 3).
According to Angulo et al. (2002) in Colombia high quality meat is produced with yields that compete with cattle in systems where the animals are fed with milk ad libitum until weaning, utilizing the high nutritional value of milk, with which higher live weight gains are reached (Campo, 1996).
In most production systems, the animals are not taken into consideration, and for such reason the first development stages occur in areas of pastures with low protein and energy values, for which animals are obtained with low weight at weaning and live weight gain between 200 and 300 g/day (Ramírez, 2001).
In order to test the meat production possibilities of river buffaloes (Buffalypso), Simón and Galloso (2009) measured the utilizable meat yield (table 4) in a total of 84 carcasses, with an average weight of 436 kg of empty live weight at slaughter. The animals had been maintained on natural pastures with low stocking rate and without supplementation, with less than 24 months after birth.
As can be observed, no noticeable differences existed for any of the yield indicators among the animals of similar live weight younger than 24 months old. No differences were found either in carcass composition (table 5).
Meat production in the last decades indicates that the number of slaughtered heads, the metric tons and the interannual growth have substantially increased, taking as basis the preceding studies of buffalo rearing for that purpose, which undoubtedly constitute the knowledge basis for buffalo meat production.
Rearing
As in all species special care must be taken with newborns and their first life stage. The most important aspect in this initial period is the ingestion of colostrum which has high concentrations of protein, minerals, such as calcium, phosphorus and potassium, liposoluble vitamins and gammaglobulins, because there is no transference from mother to calf through the placenta (Silva et al., 1990). For such reason, the permanence of the mother with her calf during its first ten days of life should be guaranteed.
The calves are born strong and can be incorporated to accompany the herd a few hours after birth; they achieve a fast increase in live weight since birth and reach a daily gain between 0,92 and 0,98 kg (Agudelo et al., 2007; Urdaneta, 2008).
In intensive rearing they have been artificially fed without any problems for their adaptation and likewise the system of nurse-cows, which can suckle 2 to 3 calves, has been used (Campo and Hincapié, 204).
The identification of the newborn must be done after 7 days and the dehorning 10-12 days after birth, and deworming at that age is also important as well as observing the newborns in order to prevent cases of onfalophlebitis.
Weaning will take place 6-8 moths after birth, taking into consideration such aspects as the body status of the calf, body condition of the mother, whether she is milking or not and the reproductive status (Campo and Hincapié, 2004).
The weight at weaning is closely related to the rearing system used and in general the male is heavier than the female. When weaning it is advisable to separate males from females, take them to paddocks with good pastures and keep them preferably separated from their mothers.
Galloso and Simón (2007) when comparing the rearing of buffalo calves in a system with trees to a system of grasses in monocrop, found that feces decomposition in both systems had a different evolution. In the silvopastoral system as the number of fresh pats increased a positive relation was established with the decomposing pats and a negative relation with the mummified ones; the contrary occurred in the system without trees.
These results are in agreement with the ones obtained in calves by Soca (2005), who stated that in systems with trees there is an abundant presence of coprophagous insects and an edaphic macrofauna which accelerate dung decomposition, because these systems provide edaphoclimatic conditions that favor the development of a rich and varied soil fauna.
This fast dung decomposition in grazing acts positively on the elimination of the eggs and larvae of gastrointestinal parasites, which reduces infestation risks in the animals and decreases the losses of the nutritional elements present in it due to eroding effects, volatilization and others, being positively reflected on calf health and growth.
CONCLUSIONS
Buffalo rearing in Cuba is very recent; yet it has had remarkable development, caused by their characteristics of rusticity, high birth rate and plasticity of adaptation to places where cattle do not survive.
They have a high roughage intake rate, which makes them less competitive with other species.
As double purpose animals, they are characterized by milk quality with high fat and total solid contents, very appropriate for the production of cheese and other dairy products, in addition to producing meat with low fat and cholesterol values.
However, their milk production turns out to be extensive, due to the low stocking rates that should be used under grazing conditions, because of their feeding habits and the productive capacities of the Buffalypso breed; for which dairy improvement through crossings with higher-potential breeds and the transformation of the feeding basis could make positive contributions in the intensification of their production.
