Buffalo Calf: An Emerging Meat Source in India

Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com 58% of world’s buffalo population. Their slaughter rate is 10.6% with annual meat production of 1.64 million tons [1]. Buffalo meat has registered a growth of 27% in export during the financial year 2012-13 [2]. The buffalo meat sector, therefore is one of the important sectors in Indian economy and shares 31.1% of India’s total meat production [1]. Buffalo meat comes from spent dairy buffalo after full utilization of their productive life. Such meat is a by-product and the average carcass yield varies from animal to animal. Spent buffalo meat is dark, coarse and tough in texture and has poor organoleptic and processing characteristics [3,4]. This issue can be resolved by using meat of male animals of lower age (below 18 months) with more collagen solubility [3]. As animals get older the collagen cross links become stabilized and the collagen is much less soluble [5]. This will solve the dairy farmers’ problem of raising male buffalo calves. Raising and utilizing such calves for meat production would further potentiate the employment and income generation. Moreover, increased availability of quality meat may help in overcoming the problem of malnutrition in the country and enhance the export potential of this commodity.