Reproductive inefficiency and low fertility rate among dairy buffaloes as a major concern limiting the productivity of the species need to be addressed and it requires further research and thorough studies.

Understanding and knowing the decreased rate of progesterone level in animals treated with luteolytic agents under synchronizing ovulation protocol are very important in order to achieve more synchronous estrus, ovulation and proper timing of insemination to increase pregnancy rate and overall AI efficiency in dairy buffaloes.

The study says that the most extensive and effective Fixed-time Artificial Insemination (FTAI) protocol is the use of Controlled Internal Drug Release (CIDR) to minimize the growth of follicle and occurrence of estrus before artificial insemination.

Other protocols used include gonadotropin and prostaglandin for the synchronizing ovulation and FTAI to improve the production of good quality oocytes at the time of ovulation and subsequently optimal uterine environment for embryo development leading to a pregnancy.

Thus, the study entitled “Effect of Different Prostaglandin Analogues during Synchronization in Dairy Buffaloes” was conducted to determine the effect of different prostaglandin analogues during estrus synchronization in dairy buffaloes. Specifically, it looks over the ovarian response following prostaglandin administration and determines the pregnancy rate.

The study involves two major areas to consider; the Ovarian Response Following Prostaglandin Administration (study 1) and the Pregnancy Rate of Dairy Buffaloes Treated with Different Prostaglandin Analogues (study2).

The research team was composed of Ms. Rebecca Ruby G. Gabriel, Dr. Eufrocina P. Atabay, Dr. Edwin C. Atabay, Dr. Jessica Gay M. Ortiz, Mr. Jhon Paul R. Apolinario, Dr. Ramesh C. Tilwani and Dr. Edgar A. Orden.

Findings and significance

For study 1, a total of twenty-four (24) post-partum buffalo cows with BCS of no less than 3 were used to determine ovarian response. These buffalo cows were randomly allocated into three treatment groups having eight buffalo cows each that underwent CIDR Synch protocol with 5ml dinoprost thromethamine (Treatment1), 2ml chloprostenol (Treatment 2), and 2ml d-chloprostenol (Treatment 3). Upon evaluation on the level of progesterone concentration of the blood samples collected, which served as bases to test the effectivity of the prostaglandin, no significance difference was seen among treatment groups.

On the other hand, the study 2 used a total of 150 animals with fifty animals per treatment to determine pregnancy rate. The main objective of synchronizing ovulation for FTAI protocol is to improve productivity of the animal by increasing the pregnancy rate per animal inseminated.

It shows that 40% is for treatment 2 and 36% both for treatments 1 and 3 but has no significant difference. As the researchers tried the treatments on a small size of herd, their observation says that the 40% pregnancy rate on the chloprostenol group tended to be higher than the two other treatments, which implies that it can also be of great impact on a larger scale.

Moreover, the size of the follicle after the treatment is known to influence pregnancy outcome following Artificial Insemination (AI). However, the researchers found out that, these generally, cannot directly suggest that increase in pregnancy rate is due to the treatment alone; other factors influencing pregnancy outcome could be the health status of the animals, the quality of semen used, the time of insemination done in relation to the estrus period, and the competence of the AI technicians.

Studies are continuously conducted in this specialization to achieve higher productivity in the livestock industry as AI program really has the potential to contribute more calf drop, increase the supply or production of local milk in the industry, as well as meat and hide.

The work indicates the effectiveness of these analogues in inducing luteolysis, follicular growth, ovulation and pregnancy and therefore, chloprostenol can be an alternative synchronizing agent in conventional or an enhanced AI program to improve reproductive efficiency of dairy buffaloes in the country.

The information gained from this study could serve as valuable inputs towards development of an effective reproductive management system to improve AI efficiency in buffaloes and other livestock species.

The study was jointly funded by Department of Science and Technology - PCAARRD and Department of Agriculture - PCC under the project “Development of Reproductive Management Program for Increased Efficiency of AI in Dairy Buffaloes” which is implemented by Reproduction and Physiology Section of PCC.