Abstract
Aim:The present study was performed to investigate the effect of genetic and non-genetic factors affecting milk fat yield and to estimate genetic parameters of monthly test day fat yields (MTDFY) and lactation 305-day fat yield (L305FY) in Murrah buffaloes.Materials and Methods:The data on total of 10381 MTDFY records comprising the first four lactations of 470 Murrah buffaloes calved from 1993 to 2014 were assessed. These buffaloes were sired by 75 bulls maintained in an organized farm at ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal. Least squares maximum likelihood program was used to estimate genetic and non-genetic parameters. Heritability estimates were obtained using paternal half-sib correlation method. Genetic and phenotypic correlations among MTDFY, and 305-day fat yield were calculated from the analysis of variance and covariance matrix among sire groups.Results:The overall least squares mean of L305FY was found to be 175.74±4.12 kg. The least squares mean of overall MTDFY ranged from 3.33±0.14 kg (TD-11) to 7.06±0.17 kg (TD-3). The h2 estimate of L305FY was found to be 0.33±0.16 in this study. The estimates of phenotypic and genetic correlations between 305-day fat yield and different MTDFY ranged from 0.32 to 0.48 and 0.51 to 0.99, respectively.Conclusions:In this study, all the genetic and non-genetic factors except age at the first calving group, significantly affected the traits under study. The estimates of phenotypic and genetic correlations of MTDFY with 305-day fat yield was generally higher in the MTDFY-5 of lactation suggesting that this TD yields could be used as the selection criteria for early evaluation and selection of Murrah buffaloes.
Highlights
India has about 51 million milch buffaloes [1] contributing about 51% [2] of the total milk produced in the country
The estimates of phenotypic and genetic correlations of monthly test day fat yields (MTDFY) with 305-day fat yield was generally higher in the MTDFY-5 of lactation suggesting that this test day (TD) yields could be used as the selection criteria for early evaluation and selection of Murrah buffaloes
The least squares mean along with their standard errors for MTDFY and lactation 305-day fat yield (L305FY) are shown in Table-1
Summary
India has about 51 million milch buffaloes [1] contributing about 51% [2] of the total milk produced in the country. Compared with cow’s milk, buffalo’s milk has a higher percentage of fat percentage. The reported values of fat percentage for buffalo’s milk varies from 6.87% to 8.59% [3,4]. In spite of its higher fat percentage, milk cholesterol content is lower in buffalo’s milk compared to cow’s milk, which is 275 mg versus 330 mg as reported by Zicarelli [5]. Milk fat plays a significant role in the nutritive value and physical properties of milk and milk products. Besides serving as a rich source of energy, fat contains significant amounts of essential fatty acids-linolenic and arachidonic acid. The most distinctive role which milk fat plays in dairy products concerns flavor
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