The impact of cross-breeding Egyptian and Italian buffalo on reproductive and productive performance under a subtropical environment.

The aim of this study was to investigate the reproductive and productive performance of pure Egyptian (PE) buffaloes and their crosses with Italian buffaloes. In this study, 2969 dairy buffaloes were used (1599 PE; 615 F1 crosses, 50% PE and 50% Italian buffaloes; and 755 backcross [BC], 75% PE and 25% Italian buffaloes). When compared to PE, the BC and F1 had a significantly lower incidence of calving difficulty (odds ratio [OR] = 0.18, p < .0001 and .34, p < .0001, respectively) in conjunction with a lesser incidence of stillbirth (OR = 0.06, p < .0001 and 0.43, p < .0001, respectively). Backcross buffaloes were also noted to have a lower rate of not conceived after first insemination (OR = 0.74, p < .0001) in comparison with PE. The cross F1 buffaloes were superior in terms of productive traits, whereas PE buffaloes were best in most of the reproductive traits (days of non-pregnant p = .001, service per conception p < .0001 and calf weight p = .01). Although the study results appeared to indicate towards a contrary association between milk production and reproductive traits, BC was similar to F1 in terms of production and similar to PE in terms of reproductive traits. Thus, the farmers should be encouraged to breed BC animals in their herds for enhancing milk yield to meet with the market demands.