Heritability Estimates under Single and Multi-Trait Animal Models in Murrah Buffaloes

First lactation records of 683 Murrah buffaloes maintained at NDRI, Karnal which were progeny of 84 sires used for comparing the heritability estimates of age at first calving, first lactation milk yield and first service period under single and multiple trait models using restricted maximum likelihood (REML) method of estimation under an individual animal model. The results indicated that the heritability estimates may vary under single and multiple trait models depending upon the magnitude of genetic and environmental correlation among the traits being considered. Therefore, a single or multiple trait model is recommended for estimation of variance components depending upon the goal of breeding programme. However, there may not be any advantage of considering a trait with zero or near zero heritability and having no or very low genetic correlation with other traits in the model. Lower heritability estimates of part lactation yield (120-day milk yield) implied that there may not be any advantage of considering this trait in place of actual 305-day milk yield, whereas, comparable heritability estimates of predicted 305-day milk yield suggested that it could be used for sire evaluation to reduce the cost of milk recording under field conditions.