Two villagers in India are ready to spend 10,000 rupees ($220) on a DNA test to decide the ownership of a disputed buffalo, more than double the value of the animal itself, police said Monday.

"The feuding farmers are ready to shell out 10,000 rupees for the test even though the cost of the buffalo is 4,000 rupees," said M. Kamalakar Rao, a police officer in Nellore district.

DNA fingerprinting is increasingly used in India for investigating murder and rape cases and settling paternity disputes.

But officials in Andhra Pradesh say this is the first time they have heard of farmers in the state using DNA fingerprinting -- which is based on identification by genetic markers -- to determine the paternity of a buffalo.