The Murrah is a breed of water buffalo kept mainly for milk production, originating in the Bhiwani, Hisar, Rohtak, Jind and other districts of central Haryana, India. It is jet black, sometimes with white markings on the face or legs, with short, tightly curved horns, and bulls weigh around 550 kilograms against 450 for cows, standing about 142 and 133 centimetres tall respectively. The Murrah has the highest milk yield of the Indian buffalo breeds, averaging about 2,200 litres over a 310-day lactation, with one record specimen producing 26.335 kilograms of milk in a single day in 2016, and it has been exported worldwide, including to Italy, Bulgaria, Egypt, Brazil and the Philippines, to improve dairy buffalo herds through crossbreeding.
Facts
Scientific Name Domestication RegionHaryana, India (Bhiwani, Hisar, Rohtak, Jind and other central Haryana districts) 1 Primary Uses In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: India, found in there.
Sources
1. Murrah Buffalo (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
mainly kept for milk production
Lead section, milk yield
Among Indian buffalo breeds, Murrah is noted to have the highest milk yield.
Appearance section, colour
Murrah buffaloes are jet black in colour, sometimes with white markings on the face or legs.
Lead section, origin
It originates in Haryana of India
Appearance section, weight
Bulls weigh around 550 kg (1,210 lb) and cows around 450 kg (990 lb).
Milk production section, lactation average
Average milk production is 2,200 L (480 imp gal; 580 US gal) in a lactation period of 310 days.
Appearance section, horns
They typically have short and tightly curved horns.
Milk production section, record yield
A Murrah buffalo at the Lakshmi Dairy Farm in Punjab set a record of 26.335 kg (58.06 lb) of milk in the 2016 National Livestock Competition and Expo.
Export section, Philippines
In Asia, Murrah buffaloes were first introduced in Philippines from India in 1917 to cross breed with native Carabao breed.
Lead section, use in other countries
It has been used to improve the milk production of dairy buffalo in other countries, such as Italy, Bulgaria and Egypt.
Brazil section, meat and milk
In Brazil, this breed of buffalo is used for production of both meat and milk.
Research institutes section, cloning
It has cloned a Murrah buffalo to replicate the high quality breed.
Lead section, home tract
According to the ICAR-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources, the official home tract of the breed is within central haryana, where it is kept in the districts of Bhiwani, Agra, Hisar, Rohtak, Jind, Jhajhar, Fatehabad, Gurgaon and the capital region of Delhi.
Research institutes section, Hisar
The Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes in Hisar is the premier research institute in India for improving the Murrah buffalo breed and for disseminating Murrah buffalo semen to farmers and buffalo breeders for fertilization of cows.
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