Genetic Effects on Production and Reproductive Traits of Jersey Cattle at Wolaita Sodo Dairy Farm, South Ethiopia

Abstract

This study was conducted to estimate genetic parameters for milk production and reproductive traits of Jersey cattle. Animal model was considered to calculate the variance component using VCE-6 version 6.0.2 & PEST 4.2.5 software. The data was obtained from a state farm, located in Wolaita Sodo, south Ethiopia. Heritability estimated in the present study was generally low to medium having the values of 0.19±0.02, 0.02±0.05, 0.16±0.03, and 0.18±0.04 for daily milk yield (DMY), lactation length (LL), age at first calving (AFC), and calving interval (CI), respectively. Estimated genetic correlation (r_g) between daily milk yield and lactation length was positive and high (0.88), moderate (0.45) between lactation length and calving interval, and low but positive (0.23 and 0.24) between the traits of daily milk yield and calving interval, and daily milk yield and age at first calving, respectively. The results of this study suggest that improvement of the performance of the pure Jersey cattle population at Wolaita Sodo dairy farm is possible through selection and better management of production and reproduction traits, and for sustainable herd improvement better data management system should be in place.