Modeling of lactation curves for prediction of standard lactation milk yield in Marathwadi buffaloes

Abstract

The present study was carried out on 538 monthly milk yield records of Marathwadi buffaloes maintained at Cattle Breeding Farm, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Udgir Dist-Latur Maharashtra spread over a period of 9 years. The monthly milk yield was recorded at 6th, 36th, 66th and so on till standard lactation with 30 days interval. The goodness of fit of 3 lactation curve models, viz. parabolic exponential function, inverse polynomial function and mixed log function were used on monthly milk yields in Marathwadi buffaloes. The highest coefficient of determination for fitting of lactation curve models was with mixed log function (97.63%), followed by parabolic exponential function (95%) and inverse polynomial function (82.70%). Further, the root mean square error was found least for mixed log function (1.70), followed by parabolic exponential function (3.55) and inverse polynomial function (4.61). It is therefore inferred that mixed log function fitted best for prediction and modeling of lactation curves based upon monthly milk yields.

Keywords

• Lactation curve
• Marathwadi
• Milk yield
• Mixed log function
• Modeling