Traditional Sri Lankan fermented buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) milk gel (Meekiri): technology, microbiology and quality characteristics

Table 1 Distribution of the buffalo population, milking buffaloes and buffalo milk production (year 2017) in Sri Lanka

Province	District	No. of buffaloes	No. of milking buffaloes	Annual buffalo milk production (L)	Milk production per buffalo per year (L)^a
Western	Colombo	7425	1794	1,370,443	763.9
	Gampaha	9977	2436	1,245,435	511.3
	Kalutara	18,508	4897	3,845,038	785.2
Central	Kandy	6113	1547	255,180	165.0
	Matale	7805	1874	498,847	266.2
	Nuwara Eliya	1531	201	76,736	381.8
Southern	Galle	11,698	2365	1,804,029	762.8
	Matara	9830	2647	2,004,029	757.1
	Hambantota	51,158	17,849	8,366,093	468.7
Northern	Jaffna	NA	NA	NA	NA
	Kilinochchi	2211	495	287,147	580.1
	Mannar	3168	498	62,048	124.6
	Vavuniya	4302	1047	423,300	404.3
	Mullathivu	6576	1,599	612,333	382.9
Eastern	Batticaloa	36,019	11,874	3,006,043	253.2
	Ampara	38,511	11,046	8,718,130	789.3
	Trincomalee	48,969	13,487	9,454,873	701.0
North-western	Kurunegala	25,608	6897	14,509,231	2103.7
North-western	Puttalam	10,815	1584	1,160,622	732.7
North-central	Anuradhapura	45,175	12,658	7,830,858	618.6
North-central	Polonnaruwa	26,480	7849	5,353,690	682.1
Uva	Badulla	4545	925	130,673	141.3
Uva	Monaragala	51,443	15,614	6,617,871	423.8
Sabaragamuwa	Ratnapura	11,747	2425	311,799	128.6
Sabaragamuwa	Kegalle	5298	757	144,188	190.5

Sources [21, 22]
NA data not available
^aEstimated using annual buffalo milk production and number of milking buffaloes
^bProvincial

ISSN: 2352-619X