Punjab's dairy animal is the buffalo, and the breed is the Murrah, black, short-horned, high in butterfat. Nili-Ravi, from the Sutlej and Ravi tracts, is the other Punjabi buffalo and is now mostly on the Pakistani side.
Sahiwal is the Punjab cattle breed, red-brown, and it is a world dairy breed exported to a dozen countries. Hariana is the draught breed of the eastern districts.
Milk in Punjab was until recently not a commodity. It was drunk, churned, made into ghee and given away, and selling it was thought slightly shameful in some households. Contract dairying at Moga and the cooperative Milkfed system built after it changed that completely within a generation.
Punjab now has among the highest per capita milk availability in India.
Crossbreeding with Holstein Friesian for yield has reduced the pure Sahiwal population sharply. The breeds Punjab exported to the world are now conserved abroad more systematically than at home.
The buffalo gives richer milk and is the preferred animal in Punjab, with the Murrah the standard breed. The cow is kept for religious reasons as much as economic ones in many households.
The Sahiwal cow, native to the region, was largely displaced by crossbred Holstein Friesian and Jersey animals, which give more milk and need more feed, more water and more veterinary support.
The stray cattle problem follows directly. An unproductive animal that cannot be sold and cannot be kept is let out, and every district in Punjab now has herds on the roads and in the fields.