Vol. 10, Special Issue 11 (2021)

Author(s):
Oshin Togla, Shivam Bhardwaj, Sagar Kadyan, Nistha Yadav and Shilpa Gujral

Abstract:
The present investigation aimed to determine the magnitude of non-genetic factors affecting the milk production traits of Indian dairy cattle, Sahiwal. The cattle were raised and maintained at Livestock research Farm of National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana, India. The data representing 342 records of Sahiwal cows for first lactation 305 days milk yield and 212 cows records for lifetime milk yield over a period of 11 years (2006-2017) was collected. The Least square procedures of Harvey using season, parity and stage of lactation as the fixed effects were utilized for the analysis. The year was classified into four major seasons while the parity was grouped into five parities and the period of calving was divided into four classes. The overall least squares mean for first lactation 305 days milk yield and lifetime milk yield were found to be 2028.98 ± 13.32 kgs and 6775.92 ± 686.14 kgs respectively. 305-days milk yield was found to be significantly (p<0.05) affected by parity while Lifetime milk production was significantly (p<0.05) influenced by parity and season of calving. Results indicate that considerable variation exists for different milk production traits within the resource population. The above factors need to be included in genetic analysis while evaluating dairy animals and be used as a management tool, to improve selection criteria by accounting for non-genetic factors.