Influence of Genetic and Non-Genetic Factors on Lactation Traits in Dairy Cattle: A Review

India has about 39.73 million crossbred cattle out of total 190.90 million (37.28%) cattle population as per the all India livestock census, 2012. The decade wise trend in livestock population (1997 to 2012) shows a distinctive swing in composition of dairy animal stock in favor of crossbred cattle, as their number increased by 20.18%, while that of indigenous cattle declined by 8.94%. Selection of dairy animals is usually based on the lactation traits. All the lactation traits are affected by various genetic and non-genetic factors like sire, season of calving, period of calving, parity of animals, age group and genetic group of animals. Accurate estimation or unbiased prediction of genetic parameters depends upon the adjustment of significant effect of environmental or non-genetic factors on lactation traits.  The lactation traits reviewed were 305 days milk yield (305MY), total lactation milk yield (TMY), lactation length (LL), peak yield (PY) and milk production efficiency traits comprised of milk yield per day of lactation length (MY/LL) and milk yield per day of calving interval (MY/CI). In order to enhance the productivity, it is essential to develop an understanding of the factors affecting lactation traits in dairy cattle. Keywords: Genetic and non-genetic factors, dairy cattle, lactation traits Cite this Article Poonam Ratwan, Manoj Kumar, Ajoy Mandal. Influence of Genetic and Non-Genetic Factors on Lactation Traits in Dairy Cattle: A Review. Research & Reviews: Journal of Dairy Science and Technology . 2016; 5(3): 7–22p.