Genomic Prediction of Milk Fat Percentage Among Crossbred Cattle in the Indian Subcontinent

This study focused on improving the milk fat percentage for crossbred dairy cows in smallholder systems, using GEBV. The data were collected from 2507 animals between 2016 and 2023 under BAIF’s Enhanced Genetic Gains program in Pune, India. After refining the dataset, 33,845 records from 1896 animal...

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Main Authors: Raghavendran Vadivel Balasubramanian, Murali Nagarajan, Marimuthu Swaminathan, Raja Angamuthu, Muralidharan Jaganadhan, Saravanan Ramasamy, Malarmathi Muthusamy, Thiruvenkadan Aranganoor Kannan, Sunday Olusola Peters
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Animals
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/7/1004
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author Raghavendran Vadivel Balasubramanian
Murali Nagarajan
Marimuthu Swaminathan
Raja Angamuthu
Muralidharan Jaganadhan
Saravanan Ramasamy
Malarmathi Muthusamy
Thiruvenkadan Aranganoor Kannan
Sunday Olusola Peters
author_facet Raghavendran Vadivel Balasubramanian
Murali Nagarajan
Marimuthu Swaminathan
Raja Angamuthu
Muralidharan Jaganadhan
Saravanan Ramasamy
Malarmathi Muthusamy
Thiruvenkadan Aranganoor Kannan
Sunday Olusola Peters
author_sort Raghavendran Vadivel Balasubramanian
collection DOAJ
description This study focused on improving the milk fat percentage for crossbred dairy cows in smallholder systems, using GEBV. The data were collected from 2507 animals between 2016 and 2023 under BAIF’s Enhanced Genetic Gains program in Pune, India. After refining the dataset, 33,845 records from 1896 animals were analyzed. The result showed that 75.54% of farms had either one or two animals. Prior to quality control, the mean milk fat percentage was 3.94%, but it decreased to 3.83% after data pruning, which necessitated removing the outliers. Genetic analysis involved 1478 animals genotyped for 49,911 SNPs after applying a rigorous quality control process, and imputation improved the accuracy of genomic data, boosting allele frequency correlation from 0.594 to 0.882. The study revealed that the additive genetic variance, phenotypic variance, and error variance were calculated as 0.012, 0.118, and 0.106, respectively. The heritability was estimated at 0.10, suggesting cautious use for breeding improvements. The GEBV ranged from 0.096 to 3.10%, which offers breeders a practical tool for selecting high-fat-producing cows. This research provides valuable insights into optimizing milk quality and advancing genetic improvement strategies in smallholder dairy systems.
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spelling doaj-art-adbf595bda6b443fb0bcc5451a09909e2025-08-20T02:15:55ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152025-03-01157100410.3390/ani15071004Genomic Prediction of Milk Fat Percentage Among Crossbred Cattle in the Indian SubcontinentRaghavendran Vadivel Balasubramanian0Murali Nagarajan1Marimuthu Swaminathan2Raja Angamuthu3Muralidharan Jaganadhan4Saravanan Ramasamy5Malarmathi Muthusamy6Thiruvenkadan Aranganoor Kannan7Sunday Olusola Peters8Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal 637002, Tamil Nadu, IndiaAlambadi Cattle Breed Research Centre, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Dharmapuri 635111, Tamil Nadu, IndiaCentral Research Station, BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune 411058, Maharashtra, IndiaDepartment of Animal Biotechnology, Madras Veterinary College, Chennai 600007, Tamil Nadu, IndiaMecheri Sheep Research Station, Pottaneri, Salem 636453, Tamil Nadu, IndiaDepartment of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal 637002, Tamil Nadu, IndiaDepartment of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal 637002, Tamil Nadu, IndiaCollege of Poultry Production and Management, Hosur, Mathigiri 635110, Tamil Nadu, IndiaDepartment of Animal Science, Berry College, Mount Berry, GA 30149, USAThis study focused on improving the milk fat percentage for crossbred dairy cows in smallholder systems, using GEBV. The data were collected from 2507 animals between 2016 and 2023 under BAIF’s Enhanced Genetic Gains program in Pune, India. After refining the dataset, 33,845 records from 1896 animals were analyzed. The result showed that 75.54% of farms had either one or two animals. Prior to quality control, the mean milk fat percentage was 3.94%, but it decreased to 3.83% after data pruning, which necessitated removing the outliers. Genetic analysis involved 1478 animals genotyped for 49,911 SNPs after applying a rigorous quality control process, and imputation improved the accuracy of genomic data, boosting allele frequency correlation from 0.594 to 0.882. The study revealed that the additive genetic variance, phenotypic variance, and error variance were calculated as 0.012, 0.118, and 0.106, respectively. The heritability was estimated at 0.10, suggesting cautious use for breeding improvements. The GEBV ranged from 0.096 to 3.10%, which offers breeders a practical tool for selecting high-fat-producing cows. This research provides valuable insights into optimizing milk quality and advancing genetic improvement strategies in smallholder dairy systems.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/7/1004GEBVmilk fat percentagecrossbred cattlesmallholder dairy systemgenetic improvement
spellingShingle Raghavendran Vadivel Balasubramanian
Murali Nagarajan
Marimuthu Swaminathan
Raja Angamuthu
Muralidharan Jaganadhan
Saravanan Ramasamy
Malarmathi Muthusamy
Thiruvenkadan Aranganoor Kannan
Sunday Olusola Peters
Genomic Prediction of Milk Fat Percentage Among Crossbred Cattle in the Indian Subcontinent
Animals
GEBV
milk fat percentage
crossbred cattle
smallholder dairy system
genetic improvement
title Genomic Prediction of Milk Fat Percentage Among Crossbred Cattle in the Indian Subcontinent
title_full Genomic Prediction of Milk Fat Percentage Among Crossbred Cattle in the Indian Subcontinent
title_fullStr Genomic Prediction of Milk Fat Percentage Among Crossbred Cattle in the Indian Subcontinent
title_full_unstemmed Genomic Prediction of Milk Fat Percentage Among Crossbred Cattle in the Indian Subcontinent
title_short Genomic Prediction of Milk Fat Percentage Among Crossbred Cattle in the Indian Subcontinent
title_sort genomic prediction of milk fat percentage among crossbred cattle in the indian subcontinent
topic GEBV
milk fat percentage
crossbred cattle
smallholder dairy system
genetic improvement
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/7/1004
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