Prevalence of reproductive failures in dairy animals: Insights from selected districts of Mid-Karnataka

Introduction

Infertility can be caused by anatomical, infectious, functional, or managerial variables. Infertility is described as a temporary lack of fertility that results in failure or delay in generating normal live offspring as next generation. Hereditary and congenital, acquired, functional (anoestrus, cystic ovary, luteal deficits, and ovulation defects), nutritional deficiencies, infectious reasons, and miscellaneous causes are the main categories of causes of infertility in cows in India (Thakur et al., 2006) [21] . According to reports, infertility and reproductive problems may impact 10-30% of lactation yield, and in affluent nations, these issues result in the annual loss of 3-6% of the herd (Maji and Samanta, 2013) [16] . For lactating cows, each missed heat results in a loss of approximately Rs.300 and for impoverished farmers' heifers, the cost is nearly double (Kutty, 2000) [15] . In India, it is not common practice to diagnose and treat large animal infertility in the field. However, as the slaughter of cattle in India is being outlawed on a daily basis, prompt diagnosis and mitigation of these animals are crucial to preventing production loss and the growing culling tendencies of the non-productive animals (Sharma, 2015) [20] . According to data from several states, the most prevalent gynaecological issues in cattle and buffaloes in India are anoestrous, repeat breeding, cystic ovarian degeneration, and uterine and tubal abnormalities (Agarwal et al., 2005) [1] . Mid-Karnataka's Davanagere, Haveri, and Chitradurga are home to five Pashu Vikasa Kendra dispersed throughout three districts. According to farmer reports, infertility in domestic animals is a prevalent issue in these locations, making livestock one of the peoples' most valuable sources of income. Therefore, based on the aforementioned circumstances, no similar study has been undertaken in Mid Karnataka. The current study was carried out to analyse the frequency of infertility in cows in specific locations of the Mid Karnataka Districts.

Materials and Methods

The villages of Davanagere, Haveri, and Chitradurga districts of Mid Karnataka were chosen for the current study in which the sponsored project was implemented. The study was carried out on the animals that were presented during the animal health checkup camps organized by the veterinarians under the sponsored IDFC-Shwetdhara CSR project. (Infrastructure Development Finance Company Corporate Social Responsibility). A total of 1,548 dairy animals mainly crossbreed and local non-descript were examined for issues linked to infertility during the period of August 2024 to March 2025 across 100 selected villages and 100 health checkup camps. According to owner anamnesis, the animals were mainly regarded as infertile or having various reproductive issues. Following Kumar and Singh (2018) [14] those tested animals underwent additional clinical examinations, primarily rectal palpation by trained veterinarians to assess for types of infertility associated with the animals like delayed puberty, anoestrous, repeat breeding, pyometra and other ailments which includes endometritis, metritis, cystic ovary, and non-specific genital infections. SPSS version 18.0 software packages were used to analyse the data using the chi-square test and cumulative prevalence. The findings were displayed as a percentage.

Results and Discussion

A total of 1,548 animals were evaluated for reproductive issues and out of them 552 (35.66%) had delayed puberty (Table -1). The prevalence of anoestrus was observed in 498 animals (32.18%), while 422 cows suffered from recurrent breeding circumstances (27.26%). The clinical pyometra was noticed in 40 (2.58%) animals. The other infertility-related problems like endometritis, metritis, cystic ovary, and nonspecific genital infections were recorded in 36 animals (2.32%). Except delayed puberty (46.73%) overall prevalence was considerably (p˂0.05) greater in cross-bred cows in comparison with local animals (46.06%). When compared to cross-bred cows, the prevalence rate of delayed puberty was significantly (p˂0.05) greater in local non descriptive cows (53.27%). The findings of this study were consistent with those of Bhattacharyya et al. (2009) [5] and Bhat et al. (2012) [4] . In contrast to the current investigation, Dutta et al. (2020) [9] reported a lower percentage of repeat breeding cases and a larger percentage of anoestrus in their field study. Maji and Samanta (2013) [16] reported a larger percentage of anoestrus and repeat breeding incidence than the current findings in another investigation. In contrast to our current observations, Khan et al. (2016) [11] reported a larger percentage of pyometra and a lower percentage of anoestrus frequency. Wide changes in food, housing, reproductive management, hormones, and most importantly climatic circumstances could all contribute to these results (Dutta et al. 2020) [9] . All those authors, however, including Ashoo et al. (2020) and Asaduzzaman et al. (2016) [2] noted that native breed cows had a lower rate of reproductive issues than cross-bred cows. This is consistent with current research. In present study, it was found that a notably high rate of delayed puberty this could be because of balanced feed and fodder shortage to animals in the study areas. The frequency of floods in the Sundarbans increased as a result of climate change, raising the salinity of the soil in agricultural areas. Animals become malnourished throughout the year due to a lack of animal feed and a decrease in crop and fodder output (Das, 2011, Mohit et al., 2015, Mukhopadhyay et al., 2021) [11,17,18] . Additionally, farmers are less knowledgeable in managing livestock feeding (Das et al., 2017) [6] . Seasonal analysis from Table-2 revealed cumulative prevalence of infertility of 30.62% (Autumn), 30.42% (Summer), 20.23% (Spring), and 18.73% (Winter). The prevalence of issues associated to infertility was found to be substantially (p˂0.05) higher in the autumn and summer season than in the spring and winter. Bhattacharyya et al. (2009) [5] and Bhat et al. (2012) [4] reported the same incidence as observed in the present investigation. In the study of Khair et al. (2013) [12] found that cow reproductive issues were less common in the winter season than in the summer and during the rainy season. Animals may benefit nutritionally from an abundance of green grass and fodder during the winter and spring months, which would further improve their ability to reproduce (Shakeel et al. 2020) [19] . Heat stress affected animals' physiological balance over the summer, which decreased their ability to reproduce (Wolfenson and Roth, 2019, Dhara et al., 2020) [22,8] . On the other hand, seasons had no discernible impact on repeat breeding conditions, according to Kumar et al. (2006) [13] .

Conclusion

According to the current study, cross-bred cows had a noticeably greater cumulative frequency of conditions connected to infertility. The prevalence of infertility among cows in the recent study was likewise impacted by the season. The prevalence was considerably higher in the summer and autumn season than it was in the winter and spring. Additionally, it was noted that anoestrus and repeat breeding were the most common issues in these areas, followed by delayed puberty.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgmentFor providing the facilities to hold the animal health camps in three districts of mid-Karnataka, the authors are grateful to the IDFC First Bank CSR team, the Regional Director, the State Head, the Circle in charge of Dharwad Circle, and the Project Coordinators, BISLD-K.

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