Skip to content

Bhadawari buffalo Photo: Yann (talk) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source ↗

Bhadawari buffalo

Bhadawari is a small-to-medium dairy buffalo of the Chambal ravines region of Uttar Pradesh and northern Madhya Pradesh. It is famous for the highest milk-fat percentage among all Indian buffalo breeds — routinely 8-13% — and supplies the cream used to make the renowned Etawah and Bhadohi ghee. Registered with NBAGR, the breed is conserved by ICAR-CIRB, Hisar.

Origin and distribution

The home tract is Agra, Etawah, Auraiya and Bhind-Morena districts along the Yamuna-Chambal river system. Hardy and adapted to the ravined topography and coarse fodder of the area, Bhadawari is the preferred buffalo in smallholder mixed-farming systems across this belt.

Morphology

Bhadawari is smaller than Murrah — adult cows 350-400 kg, bulls 400-475 kg — and is easily identified by its copper-coloured (tawny) coat, light grey horns and two white "chevron" lines on the lower side of the neck. The forehead is broad and the eyes are bulging. Horns are sword-shaped, growing backward and upward. The udder is medium-sized with well-placed teats.

Productivity

Lactation yield is modest at 800-1,200 kg over 280-300 days, but milk fat is the standout trait — routinely 8-11% and exceptionally up to 13%, the highest officially recorded for any Indian buffalo. SNF averages 9.5-10%. On a fat-corrected basis, a Bhadawari cow producing 6 kg/day at 10% fat is equivalent to a Murrah producing 9 kg/day at 7% fat — and on roughly half the feed.

The breed has excellent heat and disease tolerance, calves regularly even on poor diets, and reaches first calving at 45-50 months.

Management

Bhadawari is well-suited to landless and small farmers because it efficiently converts low-quality crop residues (wheat straw, paddy straw, sorghum stover) into rich milk. A typical ration is 4-5 kg straw, 10-15 kg green fodder (where available) and 2-3 kg concentrate (Concentrate Feed Mix Dairy) per 5-6 kg/day yield. ICAR-CIRB has developed a frozen-semen progeny-testing programme for Bhadawari bulls to support breed-improvement through artificial insemination (Artificial Insemination Cattle) without diluting the high-fat trait. Standard udder hygiene minimises mastitis (Mastitis Dairy).

See also: Murrah buffalo, Surti buffalo, Mehsana buffalo, Milk fat & SNF pricing.

Sources

  1. Bhadawari buffalo — NBAGR breed profile. ICAR-National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources, Karnal.
  2. Bhadawari — Dairy Knowledge Portal. National Dairy Development Board.