The Nagpuri is a

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

water buffalo The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called the domestic water buffalo or Asian water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also found in Europe, Australia, North America, So ...

originating in

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

, India. It stands better amongst the breeds of buffaloes which combine the milk and drought qualities in a better proportion in adverse

climatic Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

conditions. It is a River type buffalo. It is a central Indian breed.Banerjee,G.C, Animal Husbandry (8th edition) The breed has many synonyms, such as "Berari", "Gaorani", "Puranthadi", "Varhadi", "Gaolavi", "Arvi", "Gaolaogan", "Gangauri", "Shahi" and "Chanda".

Origin

As the name applies Nagpuri buffalo is a versatile breed of the Vidarbha region of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The animals of this breed are very well adapted to the harsh-semi-arid conditions of Vidarbha region.

Physiological and physical characteristics

Coat color is black. The breed is

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

with

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

patches on face, legs and tail tips. However, "Puranthadi" strain, one of the productive stain of nagpuri buffalo, is slightly brown in color. The horns are long, flat and curved, bending backward on each side of the neck nearly up to the shoulders with tips pointed mostly in upward direction. Average height of nagpuri buffalo is 145cm for male and 135cm for female and heart girth is 210 and 205cm for male and female respectively.

Rearing and production

The animals are maintained in semi-intensive management system. A Report on Nagpuri Buffalo by Kazi Abdus Sobur Male body weight average 525kg where female attains about 425kg. Banerjee,G.C, Animal Husbandry Buffaloes and heifers in this area are reared mainly for fat production. Average milk yield per lactation is 1039 kg ranging from 760-1500 kg with average milk fat of 8.25% ranging from 7.0-8.8%.Lactational performance of Shahi strain of Nagpuri buffalo Nagpuri can withstand extreme climatic conditions as high as 47º C even in respect of milk production and fertility. Male animal are used for daught purposes but it works slow than

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

Cattle).

References

{{Reflist Water buffalo breeds originating in India