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CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN HEALTH & DISEASES OF BUFFALO

Buffaloes, a livestock specific to rural areas, loyal and kind, with a long history of breeding, live in many countries around the world. In addition to producing meat, horn, skin, and milk with a great deal of nutritional value, buffaloes are also used as the workforce. Asian buffaloes are divided into two subspecies including Swamp buffaloes and River buffaloes which are different with regard to their morphology, genetics, and their use. Currently, there are 168 million buffaloes in the world of which 160.4 million (95.48% of the whole population) live in Asia, 3.7 million live in Africa, almost all of which (2.24% of the whole population) live in Egypt, 3.3 million (1.96%) live in South America, 40000 (0.24%) live in Australia, and 0.5 million (0.30%) live in Europe. FAO experts believe that Iranian buffaloes are among the best buffaloes in Asia. Iranian buffaloes live in three different climatic regions: high cold climates of West and East Azarbaijan, and Ardebil provinces, the moderate low-humid Mediterranean climate of the Caspian Sea coastline (i.e., Gilan, Mazandaran, and Golestan provinces), and warm flatland climates of Khuzestan and a part of Lorestan provinces. 132 thousand buffaloes are bred in East Azarbaijan; 124.5 thousand in Ardebil, and 117.5 thousand in Khouzestan. The production of milk in buffaloes living in various regions of Iran is different; the number of lactation days and the amount of produced milk (kg/year) amount to 1900 kg in 240 days for Khouzestan Buffaloes and 1400 kg in 220 days for Azarbaijan buffaloes. Buffalo is a livestock that can eat cheap roughage and after digestion and absorption, they turn it to milk and meat in a much better way than cows do. According to research reports, the power of digestion of raw fiber in buffaloes is 5% higher than that of productive dairy cows and the use of metabolism energy in buffaloes to produce milk is 4-5% greater than that of cows. Minor buffalo breeders feed their livestock according to environmental facilities, mainly using pastures containing bushes and surviving stems, and eventually using the graminean family forage. Many breeders also feed their livestock by grazing them near water resources such as small and large streams, rivers, pools, lakes, and canebrakes. In addition to using food sources in water resources, side products such as citrus membrane, bagasse, etc. are also used to feed buffalos. One of the main problems facing this kind of livestock is the unfortunate loss of its population: while 1500000 buffaloes lived in Iran in 1930, this number reduced to 500000 by 1995. Although some of the main causes of this reduction of population most probably relate to the development of industrialization of agriculture, increased demand for buffalo meat, failure to replace slaughtered livestock, change in agricultural systems and the afore-mentioned income patterns. Further reasons for this reduction can be mortality due to diseases, nutritional deficiencies, reproductive disorders, lack of calves' production, etc. Given that, buffaloes can be currently considered as a major source of livestock with a special place in the production of milk and meat. On the other hand, considering the impressive population of buffalo in Khouzestan (over 1/4 of cow population), the role of buffaloes in the production of livestock products is highlighted. Accordingly, the Center of Excellence for buffalo diseases was established in order to offer a first-five-year program to identify the problems with this livestock, and also focus on providing appropriate solutions to address these problems in the next years. In effect, hope and energetic efforts are provided to flourish and enrich buffalo breeding industry in Khouzestan and Iran through advancing afore-said programs.