Comparing Azikheli buffaloes with Nili Ravi buffaloes for morphometry, productivity and reproductivity

This study was conducted to evaluate the morphometric measurements and to compare the productive and reproductive performance of Azikheli buffaloes with Nili Ravi buffaloes. The descriptive and Pearson correlation analysis was done for morphometric measurements. The body measurements (centimeter; cm) were breast width (BW), thigh width (THW), thorax width (TW), hip-width (HW), rump length (RL), rump width (RW), animal depth (AD), body length (BL), hind height (HH), front height (FH), shoulder-width (SW), loin width (LW), distance of head until the ischium (DHI) and thoracic perimeter (TP). The average values were 41.88 (BW), 48.75 (THW), 37.02 (TW), 40.48 (HW), 41.13 (RL), 26.77 (RW), 72.65 (AD), 142.39 (BL), 131.17 (HH), 131.37 (FH), 34.06 (SW), 38.18 (LW), 182.54 DHI, 198.5 (TP). The highest correlations were 0.448 for RL/HH and 0.425 for THW/AD. There were no differences (p>0.05) in Azikheli and Nili Ravi in terms of milk yield per day (8.21 +/- 0.3 vs. 9.06 +/- 0.4 L) and milk yield/lactation (1626.1 +/- 27.8 vs. 1837.5 +/- 24.6 L). Higher (p<0.05) milk fat contents (7.8 +/- 0.11 vs. 6.6 +/- 0.07 %) were recorded in Azikheli buffalo milk than in Nili Ravi buffaloes. Significant differences (P<0.05) were found among reproductive characteristics between both breeds. Azikheli buffalo has better quality in term of puberty age, calving interval, and services per conception than Nili Ravi buffalo. These results indicate that morphometric body measurements and correlation coefficients may be beneficial in any selection programs in describing the relationship between structures of livestock body and their productive or reproductive ability. It may be concluded that the Azikheli dairy buffalo is an asset for the people of northern Pakistan, providing livelihood support through the sale of milk and animals The farmers' income may be further enhanced through good practices in genetic improvement and feeding management.