The Utility of Punyakoti Test for Pregnancy Detection in Artificially Inseminated Dairy Cattle: The Case of Smallholder Farming in Zambia

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Pregnancy diagnosis is a crucial on-farm strategy employed to improve performance and fertility of dairy cattle and minimize economic losses.Hence, this study was carried out to validate the Punyakoti test, a cheap and simple pregnancy diagnostic tool, for application in dairy cattle especially among smallholder farmers.The study involved four treatment groups: distilled water (DW), urine from artificially inseminated cows (AIC), non-inseminated cows (non-AIC), and non-inseminated heifers (non-AIH).Free-catch urine samples, from 18 randomly selected dairy animals, were collected on day 15, 22, 30, and 35 after insemination and used at a dilution rate of 1:4.Maize seeds were soaked in different treatment groups, followed by observation for germination and shoot length.Data were analysed descriptively to obtain the means, and inferential statistics including Kruskal-Wallis and Bonferroni tests were employed to explore significance between the means.The Eta coefficient test statistic evaluated the association between selected variables.The lowest means for germination (21.92±1.15)and shoot length (0.91±0.05) of seeds in AIC group were observed at day 35.The highest means on the same day were 84.00±1.95 and 3.05±0.14,for seed germination and shoot lengths in DW, respectively.The mean germination percentages of seeds in AIC differed significantly (P<0.05) between days after insemination; the mean values for other treatments did not differ significantly (P>0.05).The mean shoot lengths of seeds in AIC differed significantly (P<0.05) between days after insemination; no level of significance (P>0.05) was observed for other treatment groups.The association between treatment factor and seed germination on day 15 and 35 was 0.149 and 0.993, respectively; and was 0.166 and 0.876 on 15 and 35, respectively, with shoot lengths.In conclusion, Punyakoti test can be used for pregnancy detection, preferably towards month-end after insemination, in dairy cattle with seed germination parameter being sufficient to get reliable results.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.