9 - NSF Digital Library

V.G. Momongan
when they are ready to be marketed for meat. Also, in Tana Toraja, Central
South Sulawesi, the piebald or black and white buffalo is kept only for meat
production and slaughtered at traditional burial ceremonies (Satari et al.,
1994). Tn Brunei, the swamp buffalo is mainly used for meat and in limited ,
cases, for work (Cho, 1981). The average liveweight of the mature Brunei
buffalo is 401.2 2 49.9 kg (range: 259-450 kg). Most of these buffaloes are
to be found in the districts of BruneiMuara (62%) and Tutong (30%) .
Buffalo Milk Production
More than 40% ofthe miJk in Asia comes fiom water buffalo (Table
6). However, in SE Asia, buffalo contributes only about 11% to the total
milk production, supporting the observation that swamp buffalo is not
normally milked but primarily raised as a draught animal. Most of the milk
obtained in SE Asia comes fiom river type buffaloes. In Malaysia, the entire
river type buffalo population is dned to Perak and Selangor, the animals
are mostly owned by Indian fanners and the, average herd size being 5-25
animals (Jainudeen, 1989). In the Philippines, buffalo milk production is
mainly hm Murrah and river-swamp crossbreds which are dned in the
provinces of Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Rizal, Pampanga and Laguna, and
contributed about 52% ufthe 29,000 MT of milk produced in 1994. Buffalo
milk contributed more than 40% to the total milk production in Vietnam
while Cambodia, Indonesia and Lao PDR do not produce substantial
amounts of buffalo milk.
Studies showed that Murrah-swamp crossbreds produce
significantly more milk than the swamp type buffalo (Yongzuo and
Weiming, 1991 ; Momongan et al., 1994; Ly, 1994; Shrestha and Parker,
1 994).
TECHNOLOGIES TO IMPROVE PRODUCI'IWIY
It has been the common observation that the swamp type buffalo has
low productivity, particularly in its reproductive efficiency. It is known to