Climate change and buffalo farming in major milk producing states of India – Present status and need for addressing concerns

Abstract

The climate change is posing unprecedented challenges for the society in general and the farming community in particular, the world over. Large ruminants including buffaloes are generally considered as large contributors to greenhouse emissions and therefore playing a significant role in climate change. Buffaloes producing more than half of India's milk with significantly lesser population (only 36.66% of total bovine population) form the backbone of the Indian dairy farming. This livestock species is reportedly contributing 3.73 Tg of methane annually which is about 40% of the total livestock methane emissions. Uttar Pradesh is the highest methane emitting state adding roughly 15% to India's methane emissions. Further, the states of Haryana and Punjab have more than 60% of their livestock in form of buffaloes and so are the major contributors of methane in these states. Owing to it, higher feed efficiency and higher value of produce (milk and meat mainly), buffaloes are preferred by the farmers in India – a fact proved by significant growth with increase of ~18% expected in buffalo population by 2023. The body structures of buffaloes make them quite susceptible to adverse effects of weather vagaries. As India is already short of feed and fodder resources for the livestock, the perceived climate change era poses many challenges for this species to improve productivity in a climate resilient and sustainable manner. This paper analysis the buffalo farming in important milk producing states of India vis-a-vis climate change considerations for the benefit of policy makers and researchers to take appropriate mitigation and adaptive measures for making buffalo farming climate resilient and environment friendly.