Anatolian Water Buffalo Husbandry in Turkey

Anatolian Water Buffalo is found mostly in the half northwestern of Turkey including north part of the middle Anatolia. It is more common along the coast of the Black Sea. It is also found in Eastern Anatolia. From a taxonomical point of view it is classified as ‘Mediterranean’ type. In the past, buffalo farming has been an important production source for Turkey (1 117 000 heads assessed in 1971), while currently the population size is of only 117,591 heads. In Turkey most farmers keep 1-2 buffaloes for family consumption and this system is very widespread in villages while farms with around 100 heads are located near to the big cities. In spite of the popular indifference, farming of this species has survived in order to promote productive systems in agreement with sustainable rural development and trend to revalue autochthonous genetic types. There are in situ and ex situ conservation programmes and incentive premiums in order to stop the reducing tendency of population. Nationwide water buffalo improvement program has also initiated so-called community based herd improvement program. Anatolian Water Buffalo is reared for triple aptitude: meat, milk and draught. Most meat is especially used for making sausages. Concerning milk production, research is evidencing that controlled farming and feeding conditions may significantly improve performances. Milk is also employed to make a very popular traditional product, known as ‘lüle kaymağı’and yogurt production