March 29, 2007

China's Guangxi finishes second-phase expansion of buffalo breeding base

The second phase expansion of the water buffalo breeding base owned by Guangxi's Buffalo Research Institute has been completed and approved by provincial authorities.

The water buffalo breeding farm is one given national priority for development and is the only farm in the country capable of supplying buffalo breeds. The core herd consists of two river-dwelling species of buffalo. The Agriculture department sponsored RMB 5.8 million in the first phase expansion, ending in 2003, enabling the herd to double from 500 to 1000 heads, of which 600 heads were breeding cows while the rest were bulls. At the same time, milk production also doubled.

The second phase expansion, costing US$4.28 million, allowed the addition of features such as environmental protection processes, modernized processing equipment and irrigation.

Work is starting on the third phase currently.
   

Buffalo is a common source of meat for South Asian countries and parts of southern China. India and Vietnam, for example, has a thriving buffalo population. In fact, most beef referred to in India is actually buffalo meat and 70 percent of the milk produced in the country comes from water buffaloes.