Maputo. – Mozambique is experimenting on using buffaloes as agricultural draught animals and will soon start production of their milk for human consumption, an official has said.

The Estação Zooténica de Chobela, a cattle management research unit in the village of Magude, Maputo province, already has 16 adult and two young buffaloes with a further eight new-borns expected this year.

One of the officials in charge of the station, which is linked to the Mozambique Institute of Agricultural Research (IIAM), Avelino Nhate, said the idea was to breed buffalo for farmers to use as draught animals or for production of milk, which is highly nutritious.

Speaking during a recent visit by Deputy Agriculture and Food Security Minister Luísa Meque Nhate said there were already farmers in Inhambane province using buffalo to plough their fields.

Nhate said buffalo were wetland animals and could be used for rice production in Chókwè, for example, when cattle and tractors could not move because of the deep mud. Buffalo are twice as strong as cattle, weight for weight.

On concerns that buffalo were aggressive, Nhate said there were techniques for controlling their behaviour, even to the point of them living and working side by side with cattle.

The buffalo breeding initiative started a few years ago, but there is still no time frame for distributing the animals as current focus was on increasing their numbers.

The project is one of several ongoing initiatives in the Magude facility, which is operating in structures which are at risk of collapsing at any time.

Nhate acknowledged that the state of the buildings was not compatible with the research conducted there, and said the government would mobilise financial resources to rehabilitate the station. – New Ziana.