Multivariate analysis of body morphometric traits in conjunction with performance of reproduction and milk traits in crossbred progeny of Murrah × Jafarabadi buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in North-Eastern Brazil

Abstract

We studied the relationship between body morphometric traits, and their underlying association with milk production (MP), lactation length (LL), first calving interval (FCI) and subsequent calving interval (CI) of crossbred progeny of Murrah × Jafarabadi buffalo aiming to assist in selection programs. We carried out principal component analysis (PCA) of the body morphometric traits, which include breast width (BW), thigh width (THW), hip width (HW), rump width (RW), rump length (RL), body depth (BD), body length (BL), height withers (HEW), rear height (RH), shoulder width (SW), thorax width (TW), loin width (LW), distance from the head to ischium (DHI), and thoracic perimeter (TP). We determined the association of morphometric traits with milk/reproduction traits using canonical correlation analysis (CCA). The analysis revealed that the first six PCA accounted for 82.14% of the total observed variation, and the traits THW, HW, TW, LW, RW, HEW, TP, RH, and BW, accounted for almost half (48.00%) of the total variance indicating a higher contribution in body structural conformation. The first canonical function was significant (p<0.05), accounted for 72.46% of the total variance, and the canonical correlation was 0.56, indicating the dependence between both groups of traits. Higher canonical loadings were obtained for LL (0.49), FCI (0.46), BW (-0.71), BL (-0.56), DHI (-0.34), HEW, (-0.38) and TP (-0.50). These traits were most important for the derivation of canonical statistical variables, and presented a higher canonical correlations (r) between the dependent (LL/FCI) and independent (BW, BL, DHI, HEW and TP) groups. The results could suggest that the body morphometric traits THW, HW, TW, LW, RW, HEW, BD, TP, RH, and BW could play important role in body

Relación de variables morfométricos y productivos sobre parámetros reproductivas en vacas Romosinuano y Costeño con Cuernos

“…De acuerdo con Araújo de Melo et al ( 2020), las cargas canónicas explican la importancia de las variables, dado los resultados en ambos conjuntos de datos, sus combinaciones ayudan a explicar el comportamiento reproductivo de las hembras ROMO y CCC, del mismo modo se debe destacar que vacas excesivamente grandes tendrán mayores requerimientos nutricionales y esto podría dificultar su eficiencia reproductiva (Mota et al, 2014;Araújo de Melo et al, 2020). Aunque el tamaño corporal es indicio de adaptación.…”

“…La correlación positiva de medidas morfométricas con parámetros reproductivos, es un aspecto positivo previamente documentado en ganado de diferentes razas (Kiboga, Mbarara, Mpigi y Sembabule) (Kugonza et al, 2011). La amplitud de la cadera con efecto significativo sobre el número de partos de vacas CCC está asociado a mejor capacidad reproductiva en las hembras, relacionada con el desarrollo fetal y capacidad del parto (Araujo de Melo et al, 2020). De acuerdo con Lacerda et al (2018), hembras más altas están relacionadas con primer parto tardío, gestaciones más largas e intervalos entre partos más largos, este planteamiento es congruente con el efecto significativo que tuvo la ADS sobre y las variables reproductivas en vacas CCC, con menor número de partos e IEP más largos, y la correlación negativa de este parámetro con IEP y número de partos en general.…”

“…Este puede estar asociado a las características morfométricas de la hembra y ayudar a predecir el potencial productivo (de Melo et al, 2018). El efecto de la variabilidad en las medidas morfométricas sobre rasgos reproductivos ha sido previamente analizado en la progenie de búfalos Murrah × Jafarabadi y Murrah (Araújo de Melo et al, 2020;Dahiya et al, 2020), y en bovinos de las razas Blanco orejinegro (Corrales et al, 2017).…”

Predicting live weight using body volume formula in lactating water buffalo

“…Animals that grow faster in terms of body weight must also initiate early physiological functioning of reproduction and milk production (Thiruvenkadan et al ., 2009; Gurgel et al ., 2020). However, the uncontrolled increase in weight and body size of the animal leads to reproductive problems and increases production costs, due to the greater energy demand for its maintenance (Melo et al ., 2020). This problem is even more marked in buffalo culture, where adult males can reach a body weight of 800 kg, while adult females 600 kg (Luna-Palomera et al ., 2021).…”

“…Live weight is, therefore, the most important information within production systems, as it is related to several other economic characteristics (Agudelo-Gómez et al ., 2015; Ağyar et al ., 2022). However, in the main buffalo-producing regions in the world, the systems are characterized by low investments in infrastructure, and it is common not to periodically weigh the animals due to the absence of a livestock scale (Agudelo-Gómez et al ., 2015; Işik and Gül, 2016; Melo et al ., 2020; Ağyar et al ., 2022). Biometric measurements of buffalo can be used to estimate body weight in a simple and low-cost way (Ağyar et al ., 2022).…”