In the tropics, likewise in Thailand, buffaloes and cattle
are raised as an integral part of the crop production system,
especially where rice is the main commodity (Chantalakana,
2001). According to Wanapat (1995) buffaloes are raised in
subsistence systems and beef cattle in semi-intensive
systems utilizing grazing and supplementation with on-farm
resources. Farmers raise cattle for sale while buffaloes are
raised for draft power as well as for sale thereafter. Wanapat
et al. (1999) and Kennedy and Hogan (1994) have reviewed
the major differences between buffaloes and cattle in terms
of nutrition, it was found that buffaloes could utilize feed
more efficiently, particularly where the feed supply is of
low quantity and/or quality, with the digestibility of feed
being typically 2-3 percentage units higher than cattle.
Wanapat et al. (2000b) suggested that this may be explained
that buffaloes had a different rumen ecology than that in
cattle by means of having higher population of cellulolytic
bacteria and fungal zoospores and the ability to recycle