Principal component analysis of biometric traits to reveal body confirmation in local hill cattle of Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, India

Deepak Verma,Sanjeet Katoch,Varun Sankhyan,Yash Pal Thakur

doi:10.14202/vetworld.2015.1453-1457

Abstract

Aim:In the present study, biometric traits (body length [BL], heart girth [HG], paunch girth (PG), forelimb length (FLL), hind limb length (HLL), face length, forehead width, forehead length, height at hump, hump length (HL), hook to hook distance, pin to pin distance, tail length (TL), TL up to switch, horn length, horn circumference, and ear length were studied in 218 adult hill cattle of Himachal Pradesh for phenotypic characterization.Materials and Methods:Morphological and biometrical observations were recorded on 218 hill cattle randomly selected from different districts within the breeding tract. Multivariate statistics and principal component analysis are used to account for the maximum portion of variation present in the original set of variables with a minimum number of composite variables through Statistical software, SAS 9.2.Result:Five components were extracted which accounted for 65.9% of variance. The first component explained general body confirmation and explained 34.7% variation. It was represented by significant loading for BL, HG, PG, FLL, and HLL. Communality estimate ranged from 0.41 (HL) to 0.88 (TL). Second, third, fourth, and fifth component had a high loading for tail characteristics, horn characteristics, facial biometrics, and rear body, respectively.Conclusion:The result of component analysis of biometric traits suggested that indigenous hill cattle of Himachal Pradesh are small and compact size cattle with a medium hump, horizontally placed short ears, and a long tail. The study also revealed that factors extracted from the present investigation could be used in breeding programs with sufficient reduction in the number of biometric traits to be recorded to explain the body confirmation.

Highlights

Biometric traits are used to characterize body confirmation of different breeds of livestock, compare growth in different animals and describe an individual or population in a better way than the conventional methods of weighing and grading [1]
The result of component analysis of biometric traits suggested that indigenous hill cattle of Himachal Pradesh are small and compact size cattle with a medium hump, horizontally placed short ears, and a long tail
The study revealed that factors extracted from the present investigation could be used in breeding programs with sufficient reduction in the number of biometric traits to be recorded to explain the body confirmation

Summary

Introduction

Biometric traits are used to characterize body confirmation of different breeds of livestock, compare growth in different animals and describe an individual or population in a better way than the conventional methods of weighing and grading [1]. Characterization of the breed is the first approach to sustainable use of animal genetic resources. Analysis of variance and correlation are widely used to characterize phenotypic and genetic relationship among body measurements of animals [3,4,5]. Factor analysis using principal component analysis (PCA) is a valuable refinement statistical tool in multivariate methodology that is of use when characteristics are correlated [6]. The PCA transforms an original group of variables into another group, principal components, which are a linear combination of the Copyright: The authors.

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