The aim of this study was to examine the suitability of different growth functions (linear, sinusoidal, Gompertz, Schumacher and Richards) to fit cumulative milk production data from buffalo cows. Cumulative milk production at each day in milk was calculated from two published datasets reporting (i) fortnightly test-day milk yield records of the first lactation of Murrah buffalo that had calved during 1977-2012 and (ii) the first lactation records of Jaffarabadi buffalo collected from history-cum-pedigree registers for each quinquennium between 1991 and 2010. Each function was fitted to the lactation curves using nonlinear regression procedures. The Richards and sinusoidal equations provided the smallest root mean square error values, Akaike's and Bayesian information criteria and, therefore, the best fit for the cumulative lactation curves for milk yield. The Richards equation appeared to provide the most accurate estimate of the cumulative milk production at peak milk yield. Sinusoidal and flexible classical growth functions are appropriate to describe cumulative milk production curves and estimate lactation traits in buffalo.
Keywords: Buffalo; cumulative milk yield; growth function; lactation curve; modeling.