PERFORMANCE OF BUFFALO POPULATION USING TEST DAY MILK YIELD IN PROGENY TESTING PROGRAM AREAS OF DISTRICT GUJRANWALA

Data on performance records of 1132 Nili-Ravi buffaloes varied from parity 1 to 6 in the progeny testing program (PTP) areas of district Gujranwala, under Buffalo Research Institute, (BRI) Pattoki District Kasur, Punjab, Pakistan during the period 2006 to 2007 were utilized in this study to identify the high yielding elite buffaloes/bull mothers (dams) for the on going progeny testing program in the country. The pedigree information of all the animals could not be traced back because these animals registred/taged for the first time from the field area. Their breeding values could not be estimated. However, their GLS solutions for 305 day milk yield were obtained for ranking of these animals according to their merit/ production potential. The data were analysed by test day model using Statistical Analysis System (SAS), 1998 for fixed effects. The GLS solutions were estimated by using Derivative Free Restricted Maximum Likelihood (DFREML) Procedure. The mean 305-day lactation milk yield was 1152.35±18.17 Kg. The number of test days ranged from 2 to 10. The GLS solutions values varied from -14.56 to 27.08 kg. Out of 1132 buffaloes, 227 were declared as bull dams (elite). The over all phenotypic trend of 305 day lactation milk yield depicted a positive trend. The improvement in milk production could be achieved through efficient breeding strategy and improvement in nutrition and other management practices.