Interest in buffalo breeding has increased, due to certain advantages in relation to cattle breeding. The objective of this article was to review the reproductive biological characteristics of buffaloes. Buffaloes have their peculiarities regarding the reproductive characteristics, the females are seasonal polyestrous breeders of short days, the puberty’s buffalo is reached in ages more than in the bovine, the detection of the estrus is more difficult because of the estrus it happens at dawn and the females of buffalo have few physiological changes producers have difficulty detecting estrus. The gestation period varies between 300 and 320 days. Males have smaller external reproductive organs and less intense sexual behavior in relation to cattle. Buffalo females exhibit reproductive differences such as the hyperpigmented vulva and smaller and lighter, more rigid and tortuously inner structures with more muscle tone. There are some advantages in the creation of buffaloes were evidenced, such as their rusticity and adaptation to areas that would be unsuitableto cattle production, besides counting on products such as milk and meat of good quality. Several protocols of oestrus and ovulation synchronization have been adopted, to improve reproductive efficiency. These protocols have resulted in a pregnancy rates increase of 30% to 50%. It is concluded that buffalo breeding has space within the animal production system, especially in areas that would be suitable for the breeding of other ruminant species.

Currently, sustainable practices combined with an efficient livestock can have benefits for farmers as observed in this study in which the animals themselves spread the seeds in the pasture in order to promote an addition of forage resources in the canopy. The objective of this study was to evaluate seed germination of three forage species [Avena strigosa Schreb (black oat), Calopogonium mucunoides (calopogonium) and Neonotonia wightii (perennial soybean)] following ingestion by cattle. The feces were collected from the animals at intervals of 6 hours up to 48 hours after the ingestion of the seeds. The feces were placed in beds in the field for further germination studies for the next 30, 60 and 90 days (post-planting periods). No difference (P > 0.05) was observed between the treatments species or between post-planting periods of the evaluation. For all the studied seeds, the germination was only verified in the time of up to 30 days after the placement of the feces in the field, where black oats obtained numerically the highest accumulated percentage (during 48 hours) with 10% of germinated seeds. It is concluded that the use of cattle as a disperser of forage seeds can help in the introduction of new forage in order to improve the production and the quality of the pastures. The moment of the cattle entrance in the pickets will depend on the forage species to be introduced and can vary from 6 to 12 hours after the intake of the seeds.

The objective of this study was to evaluate seed germination of three different forage species subjected to saline stress. The seeds remained in salt for 0 to 24 h and were then deposited in field beds. After 15 days, the germination was evaluated from its emergence. The effect of NaCl on germination was evaluated for the following treatments: a) 0 h (control); b) permanence in NaCl for 6 h; c) permanence in NaCl for 12 h; d) permanence in NaCl for 18 h; e) permanence in NaCl for 24 h. Five treatments with five replicates were applied to each forage species. The experimental design was completely randomized where the treatment was represented by the moment of observation, being 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 h. For this experiment, differences (P < 0.05) were observed among treatments for the three forage species. For black oat and calopogonium, the different moments of salt stress in which their seeds were treated did not affect their germination. Perennial soybean suffered a decrease in germination as its seeds were exposed to salt for 6 h resulting in only 1.6% of germinated seeds. Saline stress did not affect the germination of black oat and calopogonium, both had higher values as compared to perennial soybean, in exposure time of 24 h. It is concluded that in the experimental conditions, black oat and calopogonium can be mixed with the mineral salt, without negative effect on its viability.