A rare breed of Manda buffaloes, bred and reared in areas of thick forest areas and hilly heartlands of south Odisha, has been conferred national recognition with indigenous buffalo becoming the 19th breed in the country.

The centre-run National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR) – an Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institute- has approved the registration of Manda buffalo as a breed, said officials of State’s Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services on Monday.

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Manda buffalo is native to Odisha and has an isolated breeding tract and geographical distribution to hill ranges of Eastern Ghats and plateau of Koraput region.

Mostly ash grey and grey body colour is a very unique coat colour with this buffalo breed. This buffalo germplasm was first identified and a detailed survey was made by the Animal Resources department of Odisha in collaboration with Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT)

The findings of the project were placed before the NBAGR for recognition of the indigenous unique buffalo – Manda at the national level. Now it has been declared as the 19th breed of buffalo in the country, said the officials.

These breeds of buffaloes are comparatively smaller in size but with a sturdy physique. Both male and female buffaloes of this breed are being used for ploughing and in agricultural operations in Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts.

These buffaloes have ash grey and grey coat colour with copper colour hairs. The lower part of the legs up to the elbow is light-coloured with copper-coloured hair at the knee. Some animals are silver-white in colour.

These animals are resistant to parasitic infection and less prone to diseases and can live, produce and reproduce at low or nil input systems.

There are around one lakh buffaloes of this breed in the native tract mostly contributing to the family nutrition of households and all the agricultural operations in the undulated landscaping of the hilly terrain for generations.

The average milk yield of these buffaloes is 2 to 2.5 litres in single milking with more than 8% fat. However, a few of those yield up to 4 litres.

Manda buffaloes mature at around 3 years and drop the first calf at around 4 years. Every 1.5 to 2 years they give birth to a calf for the whole life of around 20 years.

With national recognition of Manda buffalo, all efforts will be made to conserve this unique buffalo genetic resource of Odisha and efforts will be made to enhance their productivity through breeding strategy and market the produce – milk, curd, ghee etc. at premium price resulting in improvement of livelihood of the stakeholders in the native tract.