AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION CENTRE www.arccjournals.com Indian J. Anim. Res., 48 (2) : 150-154, 2014 DOI-10.5958/j.0976-0555.48.2.032 STUDY ON FEEDING MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OF BUFFALOES IN RELATIONSHIP WITH SELECTED TRAITS OF RESPONDENTS IN JAIPUR DISTRICT OF RAJASTHAN, INDIA D.S. Manohar*, S.C. Goswami and Basant Bais College of Veterinary and Animal Science Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Science, Bikaner-334 001, India Received: 02-04-2013 Accepted: 05-09-2013 ABSTRACT A field survey was conducted to collect the first hand information on the feeding management practices of buffalo farmers in Jaipur district of Rajasthan. The data were collected from 160 buffalo rearers randomly selected from two tehsil of Jaipur district through pretested and pre designed interview schedule. Regarding feeding practices, most of the farmers followed group feeding and grazed their buffaloes in fallow/harvested field. All the respondents used to chop dry fodder before feeding while 70 per cent of respondent chopped green fodder. A large share i.e. 84.37 per cent of buffalo keepers soaked concentrate mixture before feeding. About 90.62 per cent of buffalo keepers fed concentrate mixture to buffaloes in advance pregnancy. Only 34.37 and 13.75 per cent of the respondents fed common salt and mineral mixture, respectively. None of the buffalo keeper has been recorded to prepare hay and silage. Five traits of respondents i.e. age, family size, education, land holdings and herd size were selected and their relationship with feeding management practices were identified. From the study It was concluded that feeding practices were significantly (pd< 0.01) correlated with education, herd size and age of respondents. Key words: Buffalo, Feeding management, Interview schedule, Respondents. *Corresponding author’s e-mail: devendrasingh12@hotmail.com and Present address: Department of Livestock Production and Management, Apollo College of Veterinary Medicine, Jaipur INTRODUCTION Livestock rearing and crop husbandry are the two important components of mixed farming which influence agricultural economy leading to sustainable agriculture and are complementary to each other. Buffalo is the principal dairy animal of India. Buffalo holds the greatest promise for food security and sustainable development in the 21 st century as these animals form an integral part of the typical farming system in India. In India, buffalo has been the backbone of rural economy. It is the mainstay in the production of butter and ghee. Not only this, buffalo is also considered more useful for reasons of higher fat content in milk, ability to utilize agricultural byproducts more efficiently and requires less amount of kilo calories to produce 1kg each of milk. Being a triple purpose animal providing milk, meat and draught power, the contribution of buffaloes in country’s economy is immense. In view of the fact that the agro-climate conditions of India are too diverse from one region to another, a clear-cut breeding, feeding and managerial strategy is to be formulated for each and individual region. The present study was conducted to gather information regarding existing feeding management practices adopted by buffalo rearers of Jaipur district and to provide help in adoption of scientific management practices in the area. MATERIALS AND METHODS A field survey was conducted to collect the information on feeding management practices adopted by buffalo rearers in Jaipur district of Rajasthan. The district comprised of 13 tehsils, out of which two tehsils i.e Phulera and Amber were selected randomly. Further, four villages (Bhojpura kalan, Jobner, Doongri, Asalpur) from Phulera and four villages (Mundota, Raithal, Rojda, Khora beesal) from Amber tehsil were identified and from each