Adoption of Recommended Breeding Practices on Small Holder Buffalo Rearing Systems of the Kole Lands of Thrissur District, Kerala

Abstract

A descriptive analysis of buffalo rearing in the Thrissur kole was undertaken to assess structure of the buffalo units and the extent of adoption of scientific buffalo rearing practices. Snowball sampling was used to select 50 buffalo keepers each from North and South koles. Data were collected using a pretested interview schedule and direct observation with unstructured interviews. Meat based units of the North kole were larger with an average of seven total livestock units and the units on the South kole were the smallest with just over two total livestock units.  More farmers of the North kole (53.57%) had adopted recommended breeding practices to a higher extent when compared to their counterparts in the South kole (45.46%). The mean age at puberty of buffalo heifers on the kole lands was 32.76 ± 1.02 months, while the average number of services per conception was 2.78 ± 0.43 and the mean inter-calving period observed was 628.13 ± 37.58 days.