Buffalo Genetic Resources and their Conservation in Bangladesh

摘要

The present study attempts to examine the existing buffalo genetic resources and their conservation in Bangladesh. The buffalo plays a very important role in the South Asia which constitutes 73.77% of world buffalo population. This region has a great biodiversity of buffalo germplasm, including the world famous buffaloes Murrah and Nili-Ravi. The South Asian countries share 93.19% of world buffalo milk production where India and Pakistan contributes 67.99 and 23.96%, respectively. About 71.4% of world buffalo meat is produced in South Asian countries. Although buffalo is an essential part of livestock in South Asian countries, it has never been addressed in Bangladesh and always neglected despite their important role in the national economy. In Bangladesh, the total buffalo population are 1.457 million heads that are managed in household subsistance farming and extensive Bathan farming in saline coastal region that are used as a draught animal and partially for milk and meat production. The buffaloes of Bangladesh are mainly indigenous in origin and their productivity is low. So, far their genotypes need to be improved through appropriate breeding program to meet the future demand of the country and the germplasm of such native breeds constitute a valuable genetic resource which needs to be conserved on priority basis. This review has tried to unreath the present scenario of buffalo genetic resources, their production and reproduction performances and their conservation in Bangladesh. This study has also explored the further development of buffalo in Bangladesh.