Table 2 Buffalo production systems in Sri Lanka and their characteristics
Parameter | Production system | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dry-zone traditional village system | Dry-zone irrigated settlement system | Intermediate zone/coconut triangle system | Wet-zone system | Peri-urban system | |
Location | Districts in the north-central, northern, eastern, and parts of central, southern and north-western provinces | Areas coming under the irrigated settlements such as Mahaweli, Kirindi Oya, etc | Coconut triangle: intermediate and wet zone areas of north-western province and Gampaha district Intermediate Zone | Districts in the western and Sabaragamuwa provinces | Areas closer to the cities |
Husbandry practices | Free grazing, or nomadic type large herds or small/medium-sized herds, allowed to graze on communal grazing lands during the day time and brought back home in the evening and kept in a paddock near the farmers’ dwellings | Small herds are kept with a mixture of tethered grazing and feeding with cut grasses and fodder especially during night and cultivation season | Small herds, animals are allowed tethered-grazing under perennial plantations or along the roadsides | Small-holder mixed crop-livestock production system, zero-grazing, maintain in stall-fed conditions with heavy labour and service inputs for feed, health control, and artificial breeding | A specialized dairy production system not integrated with crops, animals are kept under confinement, all fodder and concentrates are purchased from outside |
Popular breeds | Majority of the farmers rear local buffalo with Murrah/Nili-Ravi cross-breeds, > 50% of the herds in the eastern area having improved types | Cross-bred dairy-type animals | Local, Murrah, Nili-Ravi, Surti, and cross-breeds | Local and cross-bred Indian breeds, the proportion of improved buffaloes are slightly lower in lowlands | Local cross-breeds, Nili-Ravi and Murrah |
Major management system | Extensive | Semi-intensive | Semi-intensive | Intensive | Intensive |
Milk as a primary/secondary income source | Secondary | Primary | Primary | Primary or secondary depending on the locality | Primary |
Milking practices | Limited milk extraction over a short lactation period, usually once a day milking | NA | Once/twice daily | NA | NA |
Average milk yield (L per buffalo per day) | < 1 L for indigenous types and 1.5–2.7 L for cross-bred | 2–5 L | 5–6 L for pure-bred, 4–5 L for cross-bred, and 1 L for Local, average 3.1 L |  ~ 3–6 L | NA |
Cost of production | Least cost | NA | Relatively high due to the high percentage of the cost for compound feed | Relatively high due to the high percentage of the cost for compound feed | NA |
Herd size | 1–250 | NA | 1–4 animals | 2–3 | NA |