Bhubaneswar: Manda buffalo, found mainly in Koraput region of Odisha got national recognition. Buffalo, an isolated breeding tract and found in the hill ranges of Eastern Ghats and plateau of Koraput region.
Mandas are small sized sturdy buffaloes having a unique coat colour of ash grey and grey with copper colour hair. Lower part of legs upto elbow is light colour with copper colour hair at knee. Some animals are silver white in colour.
Both male & females buffalos are being used for ploughing and in agricultural operations in the native tract of Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts.
This buffalo germplasm was first identified and a detail survey was made by Animal Resources Development Department of Odisha in collaboration with Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) under the leadership of the then Director Bishnupada Sethi, and Dr Susanta Kumar Dash, an Animal Geneticist.
Mandas are resistant to parasitic infection and less prone to diseases and can live, produce and reproduce at low or no input system. Around 1,00,000 buffaloes of this breed are in the native tract mostly contributing to family nutrition of households and all the agricultural operations in the hilly terrain of the southern districts for generations.
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