Genetic evaluation of Ongole bulls at organized herds

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the breeding value of Ongole bulls for first lactation milk yield and to rank them for their future use in nominated mating for production of quality male calves. The first lactation records of 418 cows maintained at Livestock Research Station, Lam Farm, Guntur (Andhra Pradesh); Government Cattle Breeding Farm, Chadalwada (Andhra Pradesh); Government Livestock Farm, Chintaldevi (Andhra Pradesh) and Livestock Research Station, Mahanandi (Andhra Pradesh) that were daughters of 23 bulls and calved during 13 years from 1991 to 2003 were used in analysis. First lactation milk yield in Ongole cows averaged 539.01±21.10 kg. The effect of farm and period of calving was significant on this trait. The breeding value of different bulls varied from 485.84 to 565.69 kg in first set, from 518.49 to 553.94 kg in second set and from 525.12 to 568.42 kg in third set. The highest breeding value, was observed for sire No. L168 (set 3) followed by sire No. L29 (set I) and sire No. LIO (set 1). Their superiority over the herd average ranged between 18.71 and 29.41 kg (3.47 to 5.45%). The frozen semen of these top ranked bulls has been recommended for use on elite cows to produce young male calves for inducting in the new set (5).