Factors Affecting Lactation Performance of Deoni Cattle

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Factors Affecting Lactation Performance of Deoni Cattle
Supriya G 1 *, Prashant Waghmare 2 , Vivek Patil 3 , Prakashkumar Rathod 4 , Vidyasagar 5 IntroductIon A s per 20 th Livestock Census of 2019, the total livestock population in India is 535.78 million. Karnataka is the 9 th largest state in cattle and buffalo population in India, accounting for 29 million and contributes 4.70 % of the country's total population (GOI, 2019). In view of the increasing population and diversified food requirement, enhancing milk production for future years would be very challenging. Among different cattle breeds reared in India, Deoni is one of the important dual-purpose cattle breeds of the erstwhile Nizam State, comprising parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana states. Deoni bullocks are suitable for heavy cultivation and carting works (Suryawamshi et al., 2000). They are also good milk yielders, even up to 10 liters per day under village conditions (NBAGR, 2008). However, the range of lactation milk yield is reported to be 293.3±76.0 kg to 868.24±49.56 kg, indicating a large variation among the population and great scope for improvement (Dongre et al., 2017). Some researchers assessed the regional priorities for sustainable milk production in Karnataka and recommended upgrading non-descript stock with native cattle breeds like Deoni, which have much higher production potential. Although some of the studies have reported the performance of Deoni cattle in field conditions, the present study was undertaken to analyze the factors affecting the lactation performance of Deoni cattle maintained in institutional farms.

MAterIAls A n d Methods
The study was carried out to analyze the effect of nongenetic factors on lactation performance traits like lactation milk yield (LMY), peak milk yield (PMY), lactation length (LL) and persistency of lactation in Deoni cattle at Livestock Research & Information Centre (Deoni) in Bidar district. Data pertaining to 78 lactation records over 3 years period (2015 to 2018) of 78 Deoni cows from this center were collected and organized to study the effect of age, parity, a period of calving, and season of calving on production traits. Five levels of age groups (3-5, 5-7, 7-9, 9-11, and >11 years) were coded, and six parties (1 to 6) were analyzed. The study also covered three periods, viz., period 1 (July 15-Jun 16), period 2 (July 16-Jun 17), and period 3 (July 17-Jun 18) and three seasons, viz., rainy (Jul-Oct), winter (Nov-Feb) and summer (Mar-Jun). Statistical analysis was done using SAS software version 9.3 (2010) using the General Linear Model (GLM) procedure.

Factors Affecting Lactation Performance of Deoni Cattle
The Indian Journal of Veterinary Sciences and Biotechnology, Volume 15 Issue 4 (April-June 2020)

results A n d dIscussIon
The overall lactation performance of 78 Deoni cows studied over three years period revealed the mean lactation milk yield of 1297.99 ± 54.41 kg, peak milk yield 6.19 ± 0.147 kg, lactation length of 291.68 ± 6.789 days and persistency of lactation as 207.68 ± 5.105 days. Table 1 depicts that lactation milk yield (LMY) was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) affected by the age group and parity, but the period of calving and season of calving had no significant influence on it. Further, the cattle of 9-11 years age group showed significantly (p ≤0.05) higher LMY when compared with animals of 5-6 years and 3-5 years age groups, but it was statistically similar to that of 7-9 years and >11 years of age groups. With regards to parity, LMY was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher at fourth parity when compared to first parity. Still, it was statistically at par with LMY of second, third, fifth, and sixth parity. This might be due to the fact that, as parity and age advances, cow's body weight and size increase, which in turn helps in producing more milk than younger/small cows. This also might be due to better udder development that comes with repeated pregnancies as well as the full development of udder tissues. Also, multiparous cows reach their peak in early lactation than first parity cows by consuming more feed and water, leading to longer persistency period than that of the first calving. Our observations corroborate with the reports of Wondifraw et al. (2013), Anarase et al. (2015), and Kuralkar et al. (2015), who reported the highest LMY in fifth and second parity, respectively. The season of calving and period of calving did not have any significant effect on LMY. These results were in contradiction with Bhutkar et al. (2014), Anarase et al. (2015), , and . They reported a significant effect of the period of calving and season of calving on LMY.

Peak Milk Yield (PMY)
Peak milk yield was significantly (p≤ 0.05) influenced by parity, but was not affected by age, period of calving and season of calving. The PMY was significantly (p≤0.05) higher during first, sixth and second parity in ascending order as compared to fourth and fifth parity, while that of third parity was statistically at par with all other parties.

Lactation Length (LL)
Lactation length did not reveal the significant influence of different traits like age group, parity, and period of calving. However, a season of calving had significantly (p≤0.05) influenced the LL. The rainy season showed significantly higher LL when compared to summer season, and it was intermediate during the winter season. These results were in agreement with Anarase et al. (2015), who reported a  (2018) and Kuralkar et al. (2015) did not find it's a significant effect on LL.

Persistency
The study revealed that age group, parity, a period of calving, and season of calving did not have any significant influence on the persistence. These results were in agreement with those of Chaudhry et al. (2000) in Nili-Ravi buffaloes.

conclusIon
The study revealed that non-genetic factors, particularly the age and parity, have a significant effect on production parameters of Deoni cattle, but not the period or season of calving. Further, the high variation in the milk production of Deoni cattle is also indicative of further scope for improvement in the trait through selective breeding.