Application of mathematical equations to describe lactation curves in buffaloes

The present study was carried out to investigate the efficacy of fitting three different lactation curve models using monthly milk yield records of Marathwadi buffaloes maintained at Cattle Breeding Farm, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Udgir Dist- Latur Maharashtra spread over a period of nine years. The monthly milk yield was recorded at 6(th), 36(th), 66(th) and so on till standard lactation with thirty days interval. The three different lactation curve models viz.exponential decline function, gamma-type function and parabolic exponential were used on monthly milk yields in Marathwadi buffaloes. It was inferred that the highest coefficient of determination for fitting of lactation curves models was with gamma-type function (98.82%), followed by parabolic exponential model (98.60%) and least by exponential decline function (94.79%). Further, the root mean square error was found least for gamma-type function (1.20), followed by parabolic exponential function (1.31) and highest by exponential decline function (2.53). It is therefore inferred that mixed log function fitted best in Marathwadi buffalo for prediction and modeling of lactation curves based upon monthly milk yields.