Use of Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines Algorithm to Predict Body Weight from Body Measurements of Anatolian buffaloes in Türkiye

Abstract

Anatolian buffalo is an important breed reared for meat and milk in various regions of Türkiye. The present study was performed to estimate body weight (BW) from several body measurements, such as tail length (TL), shoulder height (SH), withers height (WH), body length (BL), chest circumference (CC), shank diameter (SD) and birth weight (BiW). The data set was taken from Muş Province of Türkiye. In this respect, 171 Anatolian buffaloes were used. To estimate the BW, different proportions of the training and test sets were used with the MARS algorithm. The optimal MARS was determined at a proportion of %70-%30. The MARS model displays the heaviest BW that can be produced by Anatolian buffalo according to tail length, body length, chest circumference and shoulder height. In conclusion, it could be suggested that the MARS algorithm may allow animal breeders to obtain an elite population and to determine the body measurements affecting BW as indirect selection criteria for describing the breed description of Anatolian buffalo and aiding sustainable meat production and rural development in Türkiye.

Using Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines to Estimate the Body Weight of Savanna Goats

“…Our MARS model performance results implied that MARS might be useful for the prediction of live body weight from linear body measurements in goats using 70:30 dataset proportion for training and test sets. These findings agree with Ağyar et al’s [ 31 ] suggestion that the multivariate adaptive regression splines data mining algorithm had better identification properties than other estimation models.…”

“…Due to the scarcity of MARS data mining algorithm studies in goats, we discussed our MARS findings using different animal species. Ağyar et al [ 31 ] indicated that the MARS results determined tail length, body length, chest circumference and shank diameter as important parameters in Anatolian buffaloes in Turkiye. The MARS results implied that sex, withers height, rump height, body length and heart girth might be useful for the improvement of live body weight in Savanna goats.…”

Predicting live weight using body volume formula in lactating water buffalo

“…Currently, buffalo farming is an important livestock activity in Mexico because it represents a potential source of milk, dairy products, and meat (Hossein-Zadeh, 2016; Mota-Rojas et al ., 2022). The buffalo offers several important advantages over cattle, such as better adaptation to the type of climate, greater resistance to tropical cattle diseases, and better use of low-quality forage (Torres-Chable et al , 2017; Ağyar et al ., 2022). In Mexico, the water buffalo ( Bubalus bubalis ) was introduced in regions with a hot and humid climate, mainly in the states of Veracruz, Tabasco, Chiapas, and Campeche, due to the fact that in these areas there are large wetlands, which are the natural habitat of these animals (Peralta-Torres et al ., 2020).…”

“…Although buffalo farming is perceived by producers as a profitable business, there is still much to be explored in terms of animal production parameters (Hernández-Herrera et al , 2018). In particular, the growth rate is an important parameter in animal production, as it characterizes the adaptability and economic suitability of livestock production (Ağyar et al ., 2022). 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).…”

“…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).…”