The husbandry system of water buffalo depends on the purpose for
which they are bred and maintained. Most of them are kept by people who
work on small farms in family units. Their buffalo live in very close
association with them, and are often their greatest
capital asset.
The women and girls in India generally look after the milking buffalo
while the men and boys are concerned with the working animals.
Throughout Asia, they are commonly tended by children who are often seen
leading or riding their charges to wallowing places. Water buffalo are
the ideal animals for work in the deep mud of
paddy fields
because of their large hooves and flexible foot joints. They are often
referred to as "the living tractor of the East". It probably is possible
to plough deeper with buffalo than with either oxen or horses. They are
the most efficient and economical means of cultivation of small fields.
In most rice-producing countries, they are used for threshing and for
transporting the
sheaves
during the rice harvest. They provide power for oilseed mills,
sugarcane presses, and devices for raising water. They are widely used
as
pack animals,
and in India and Pakistan also for heavy haulage. In their invasions of
Europe, the Turks used buffalo for hauling heavy battering rams. Their
dung is used as a
fertilizer, and as a
fuel when dried.
[1]
Buffalo contribute 72 million tones of
milk and three million tones of
meat
annually to world food, much of it in areas that are prone to
nutritional imbalances. In India, river-type buffalo are kept mainly for
milk production and for transport, whereas swamp-type buffalo are kept
mainly for work and a small amount of milk.
[26]
Dairy products
Dairy products of water buffalo milk
Water buffalo milk presents physicochemical features different from that of other
ruminant species, such as a higher content of
fatty acids and
proteins.
[43] The physical and chemical parameters of swamp and river type water buffalo milk differ.
[44] Water buffalo milk contains higher levels of total solids,
crude protein,
fat,
calcium, and
phosphorus, and slightly higher content of
lactose compared with those of
cow milk. The high level of total solids makes water buffalo milk ideal for processing into value-added dairy products such as
cheese. The
conjugated linoleic acid
(CLA) content in milk ranged from 4.4 mg/g fat in September to 7.6 mg/g
fat in June. Seasons and genetics may play a role in variation of CLA
level and changes in gross composition of the water buffalo milk.
[45]
Water buffalo milk is processed into a large variety of
dairy products:
[46]
- Cream churns much faster at higher fat levels and gives higher overrun than cow cream.
- Butter from water buffalo cream displays more stability than that from cow cream.
- Ghee from water buffalo milk has a different texture with a bigger grain size than ghee from cow milk.
- Heat-concentrated milk products in the Indian subcontinent include paneer, khoa, rabri, kheer and basundi.
- Fermented milk products include dahi, yogurt, and chakka.
- Whey is used for making ricotta and mascarpone in Italy, and alkarish in Syria and Egypt.
- Soft cheeses made include mozzarella in Italy, karish, mish, and domiati in Egypt, madhfor in Iraq, alghab in Syria, kesong puti in the Philippines, and vladeasa in Romania.
- The semihard cheese beyaz peynir is made in Turkey.
- Hard cheeses include braila in Romania, rahss in Egypt,[47] white brine in Bulgaria, and akkawi in Syria.
- Watered-down buffalo milk is used as a cheaper alternative to regular milk.[48]
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