The World Buffalo Congress is returning to Italy after nearly twenty years, bringing the international scientific community to Sorrento from October 28 to 30. Organized by the University of Naples Federico II through its Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, the Consortium for the Protection of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO, and the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Southern Italy, the event will gather researchers, veterinarians, breeders, technicians, businesses, and institutions from more than twenty countries.
The congress is one of the most significant global meetings for the buffalo sector, offering a platform to connect scientific research, technological innovation, and production systems. Italy's Agriculture Minister, Francesco Lollobrigida, has been invited to close the proceedings on the morning of October 30.
The return of the event to Italy carries particular weight given the growth and transformation of the buffalo supply chain worldwide. An estimated 220 million buffalo are raised globally, concentrated mainly in Asia but increasingly present in Europe and the Americas. The buffalo is not only a source of milk and meat but also an economic and social asset for millions of farmers, with a supply chain increasingly oriented toward innovation, sustainability, and high-quality production.
The scientific scope of the 2026 congress is evident in its numbers. A total of 283 abstracts have been submitted from over twenty countries. Italy leads with 82 scientific contributions, accounting for 28.5 percent of the total, ahead of India with 40 abstracts and Pakistan with 32. Thailand, Brazil, the Philippines, and China follow. This result is particularly significant because Italy's buffalo population represents only a limited share of the global total. Italian leadership is therefore based primarily on the quality of research and the ability to transfer knowledge and innovation to the production chain.
The high level of the work is also confirmed by the selection made by the scientific committee. Of 181 oral communications initially considered, 103 studies will be presented orally, while 163 will be displayed as posters. The topics addressed clearly reflect new frontiers in research. Genetics is the most represented area with 50 abstracts, followed by reproduction with 48 contributions and animal health and welfare with 46. Overall, 119 contributions, more than 40 percent of the entire congress, concern technological innovation, genetic improvement, and sustainability.
The congress will serve as a privileged observatory on the transformations affecting buffalo livestock farming. Genetics and genomics now make it possible to identify markers linked to fertility, milk quality, feed efficiency, disease resistance, and adaptability to environmental stress. At the same time, Precision Livestock Farming is introducing tools such as wearable sensors, ruminal boluses, computer vision systems, artificial intelligence algorithms, and predictive systems capable of monitoring animal conditions in real time and supporting farmers' decisions.
Sustainability has also become a cross-cutting element of research, from studies on feed efficiency to reducing environmental impact, from valorizing by-products of the dairy chain to circular economy models, and from research on the functional and nutraceutical properties of buffalo milk.
Giuseppe Campanile, professor of special animal husbandry at the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production at the University of Naples Federico II and president of the International Buffalo Federation, presented the event: «The World Buffalo Congress will represent a moment of discussion between the international scientific, technical, and entrepreneurial community on the main issues concerning the development of buffalo farming in the world. The buffalo is not only a resource but is culture, work, and identity of many areas of our planet. This animal represents an extraordinary opportunity for the future, also in consideration of the environmental and climatic challenges affecting our planet. Indeed, climate change, the growing demand for high-quality food, and new consumer needs must be the driving force for the growth of a species that has always guaranteed energy and protein for developing countries and that today guarantees, thanks to its particular physiological characteristics, substances that intervene in the prevention of the main pathologies affecting humans, we refer to chronic-degenerative diseases.»
Domenico Raimondo, president of the Consortium for the Protection of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO, stated: «The return of the World Buffalo Congress to Italy represents an important recognition for the entire national buffalo system. We are proud that the Consortium is a protagonist of this journey together with the Federico II University and the Zooprophylactic Institute. The strength of our supply chain comes from the meeting of territory, skills, research, and production capacity. Today we have the responsibility to look to the future with the tools of innovation, without losing the link with a history and a production heritage that make Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO unique. We must transform the challenges into opportunities.»
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