Lactation Persistency and its Genetic Evaluation in Cattle—A Review

Abstract

Lactation persistency, an economically important trait for dairy animal, can be defined as the capacity of a cow to continue milk production at a high level after the peak yield. High persistent cows are expected to have higher lactation production, longer productive life and considered as efficient producers. Moreover, lactation persistency has a great influence on the health, reproduction and feed costs of dairy cows. Different environmental factors viz., season of calving, period of calving, parity, genetic group, age of calving, lactation length, peak yield, were reported to have significant effect on the lactation persistency of dairy cattle. The heritability of lactation persistency varied according to the method of calculation of persistency and the method of heritability estimation. Low positive genetic correlation between persistency and milk yield indicated that selection for increased milk yield would slightly improve persistency. To ensure that cows persistent for milk production have good reproductive performance, it is important to study the relationship between persistency and reproductive traits. Various researchers have reported unfavorable relationship between persistency and reproductive traits.

Keywords: Persistent, lactation, productivity, reproductive traits

Cite this Article

Koloi S, Pathak K, Karunakaran M et al. Lactation Persistency and its Genetic Evaluation in Cattle—A Review. Research and Reviews: Journal of Dairy Science and Technology. 2018; 7(3): 1–8p