Assessment of Dairy Cows for Milk Yield in the Cool Tropical Climate of Plateau State, Nigeria

Genetic improvements of milk yield in the tropics necessitate the use of exotic cattle to the upgrade the performance of local cattle. The data for the study came from two different genotypes namely Holstein Friesian and FriesianxBunaji crossbred on the Plateau State in Nigeria. Milk production traits measured were 305-day fat corrected milk yield, daily milk yield, 100-day fat corrected milk yield, total fat yield, total protein yield and lactation length. Six milk production indices (Fat corrected milk yield kilogram weight; FCM Kg W, fat corrected milk yield kilogram metabolic weight; FCM Kg MW, fat corrected milk yield per day per kilogram weight; FCM/day/kgW, fat corrected milk yield per day per kilogram metabolic weight; FCM/day/kgMW, net energy efficiency and dairy merit). The R 3.0.3 statistical software was used for basic descriptive, t-test and regression analysis. Milk production traits were significantly (P<0.05) influenced by genotype. Neural network models had the best prediction accuracy for estimating milk yield. It is concluded that considerable genetic variation existed between genotypes in milk production and efficiency traits.