Kuttanad Buffalo Breed

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The Kuttanad buffaloes are found in Kuttanad area of Kerala, comprising two districts
namely Kottayam and Alappuzha. It is a dwarf breed of buffaloes.
Morphological characteristics
Body: medium-sized
Body colour: Grey but a few with black coloured coats
Markings over body: The most important distinguishing character is the presence of
two white lines, one at brisket region and the second seen in the upper part of ventral
side of neck. The marking in the brisket region is large and extends between the two
armpits. The marking at the upper neck area is short and is seen in the joining of neck
with head. The farmers consider these white markings as the mark of purity of the
animal.
Morphometeric Traits
Body weight: 150-200 kg.

Height at withers: 109.020.78 cm.

Body length: 111.011.12 cm.
Heart girth: 162.321.18 cm.
Production traits
Milk production: Milk production in Kuttanad buffaloes is meagre, yielding 1 to 2 litres
per day.
Average milk fat: 6.100.55.
Milk protein: 33.900.08%.
Solid not fat: 11.300.33.
These buffaloes are mainly reared for draft purpose. The Kuttanad buffaloes are used
extensively for ploughing the marshy and deep paddy fields of Kuttanad where the
heavy ones will drown. They are considered to be good swimmers. They are poor
milkers and the female buffaloes are used only for producing the calves and most of the
milk is fed to the male calves, which would become a good work bullock.
References
1. Anilkumar K., Mohan K.M.S., Ally K., and Sathian C.T., 2003, Composition and
Mineral Levels of the Milk Kuttang Dwarf Buffaloes of Kerala, Buffalo Bulletin,
22(3): 67-70.
2. Anilkumar, K. and K. V. Raghunandanan. 2003. The dwarf cattle and buffalo of
kerala. College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, KAU, Mannuthy, Thrissur.
3. Jayan K. C. and Jayan J., 2010, Domestic Animal Diversity of Kerala and the
Role of Vechur Conservation Trust, Proceedings of National Conference on
Native Livestock Breeds and Their Sustainable Uses, Vechur Conservation Trust,
Kerala, India.
4. Tantia M.S., Vijh R.K., Bina Mishra, S. T. Bharani Kumar and Reena Arora, 2006,
Multilocus Genotyping to Study Population Structure in Three Buffalo
Populations of India, Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci., 19(8): 1071-1078.

Kuttanad
Kuttanad buffaloes are found only in Kuttanad area of Kerala, comprising two districts
namely Kottayam and Alappuzha. The buffaloes are best workers in paddy field where use of
tractors and tillers are difficult as the fields are mostly submerged in water and having
thicker muddy layer (Anil Kumar, 2004). They are poor milkers and the buffalo cows are
used only for producing the calves and most of the milk is fed to the male calves, which
would become a good work bullock.
Characteristics

The coat colour of most of the Kuttanad buffaloes are described as grey; but a few
with black coloured coats.
The most important character which distinguishes Kuttanad buffaloes is the presence
of two white lines, one at brisket region and the second seen in the upper part of ventral
side of neck.
The marking in the brisket region is large and extends between the two armpits.

The marking at the upper neck area is short and is seen in the joining of neck with
head. The farmers consider these white markings as the mark of purity of the animal.
The buffaloes are mostly medium-sized.

The average girth of the Kuttanad buffaloes was measured as 162.32 1.18 cm and
height of the buffaloes averaged 109.02 0.78 cm. The average body length was
111.01 1.12 cm.
Production Performance

.
Milk production in Kuttanad buffaloes is meagre, yielding 1 to 2 litres per day. They are
usually milked only once and major part of the milk is given to male calves, hence proper
recording of milk is not possible.
.

Conservation Measures

.
One of the major constraints of the farmers is the non-availability of good quality bulls. The
farmers practise castration of male buffalo calves and sell them as bullock to fetch more
returns, instead of maintaining bulls. In some areas, the buffalo cows are bred with Murrah
semen through Government agencies. Facilitating the supply of semen of Kuttanad buffaloes
would save the purity of the germplasm. Further, the population of Kuttanad buffaloes is
estimated to be around 500 in numbers. Hence, efforts are to be taken to conserve these
animals. Conservation efforts are taken by the NGO, such as Vechur trust, who encourage
the local farmers to keep these buffaloes in the purest form.