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<p>Understanding the environmental and management-related determinants of semen production is essential for optimizing artificial insemination programs in buffalo breeding. This study comprehensively evaluated the influence of major non-genetic factors and their interactions on semen quality and semen production traits in Mehsana buffalo bulls using one of the largest repeated-record field datasets reported for this breed. A total of 55,071 ejaculates collected from 244 bulls maintained at two organized semen stations in Gujarat, India, were analyzed. Semen volume, sperm concentration, initial sperm motility, post-thaw sperm motility, and the number of semen doses produced per ejaculate were evaluated using repeated-record linear mixed-effects models fitted by restricted maximum likelihood (REML), with bull included as a random effect and within-bull correlations modeled using a first-order autoregressive covariance structure. Age at semen collection, period of semen collection, and ejaculate number consistently influenced all semen traits, whereas farm and season exhibited trait-specific effects. Semen volume and semen dose yield generally increased with advancing age, peaked between 3 and 5 years (197–202 semen doses per ejaculate), and declined thereafter. The first ejaculate consistently produced greater semen volume, sperm concentration, and semen dose output than the second ejaculate (248 vs. 115 semen doses per ejaculate). Significant interactions among farm, age, season, and ejaculate number demonstrated that semen traits responded differently across management environments and physiological stages, supporting age-specific bull utilization and optimized semen collection schedules in organized breeding programmes. By integrating a large longitudinal dataset with repeated-record mixed-model analyses, this study provides a comprehensive characterization of non-genetic sources of variation affecting semen production traits in Mehsana buffalo bulls. The findings offer an evidence-based framework for optimizing bull utilization and semen collection strategies in organized breeding programs while highlighting the need for future investigations integrating fertility, physiological, environmental, and genomic information to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the observed associations.</p>

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Non-genetic determinants and interaction effects on semen quality and production efficiency in Mehsana buffalo bulls: a large-scale field study

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月30日

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  • N. S. Dangar,
  • B. P. Brahmkshtri,
  • P. A. Patel,
  • H. A. Modh

摘要

Understanding the environmental and management-related determinants of semen production is essential for optimizing artificial insemination programs in buffalo breeding. This study comprehensively evaluated the influence of major non-genetic factors and their interactions on semen quality and semen production traits in Mehsana buffalo bulls using one of the largest repeated-record field datasets reported for this breed. A total of 55,071 ejaculates collected from 244 bulls maintained at two organized semen stations in Gujarat, India, were analyzed. Semen volume, sperm concentration, initial sperm motility, post-thaw sperm motility, and the number of semen doses produced per ejaculate were evaluated using repeated-record linear mixed-effects models fitted by restricted maximum likelihood (REML), with bull included as a random effect and within-bull correlations modeled using a first-order autoregressive covariance structure. Age at semen collection, period of semen collection, and ejaculate number consistently influenced all semen traits, whereas farm and season exhibited trait-specific effects. Semen volume and semen dose yield generally increased with advancing age, peaked between 3 and 5 years (197–202 semen doses per ejaculate), and declined thereafter. The first ejaculate consistently produced greater semen volume, sperm concentration, and semen dose output than the second ejaculate (248 vs. 115 semen doses per ejaculate). Significant interactions among farm, age, season, and ejaculate number demonstrated that semen traits responded differently across management environments and physiological stages, supporting age-specific bull utilization and optimized semen collection schedules in organized breeding programmes. By integrating a large longitudinal dataset with repeated-record mixed-model analyses, this study provides a comprehensive characterization of non-genetic sources of variation affecting semen production traits in Mehsana buffalo bulls. The findings offer an evidence-based framework for optimizing bull utilization and semen collection strategies in organized breeding programs while highlighting the need for future investigations integrating fertility, physiological, environmental, and genomic information to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the observed associations.