Volume: 57 Issue: 3
Year: 2026, Page: 369-373, Doi: https://doi.org/10.51966/jvas.2026.57.3.369-373
Received: Nov. 24, 2025 Accepted: Sept. 7, 2026 Published: Sept. 30, 2026
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) initiated the Field Progeny Testing (FPT) scheme for cross-bred bulls in Kerala in 1985-86 at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Animal Genetics and Breeding (CASAGB), Mannuthy, Kerala. Since 2002, ICAR has incorporated Frieswal bulls into its breeding program, and their progenies are performing well in the state’s agroclimatic conditions. The present study analysed data from 1971 female progenies of six sire batches (12 to 17) maintained in seven FPT units, across Thrissur district, spanning over ten years (2014-2024). The present study aimed to assess the effect of centre, batch of sire and season of birth on the weight at birth, six months, one year and heifer stages of Frieswal cattle. Frieswal calves averaged 31.13± 0.09 kg, 84.07± 0.31 kg, 158.29± 0.51 kg and 256.64 ± 1.19 kg at birth, 6 months, one year of age, and heifer stage, respectively. Centre and batch of sire had a significant effect on body weight at all ages (p0.05). Progenies from centre Veerolipadam showed significantly higher mean body weight (kg) at 6 months (87.31± 1.035), one-year (165.79±1.47) and heifer (280.211± 3.73) stages, whereas those from centre Ayyappankavu showed significantly lower mean body weights (82.8 ± 0.82, 147.42 ±1.16, 244.25± 2.96, respectively), indicating centre-wise management differences. Female progenies sired by batch 17 had significantly higher mean birth weight (32.07±0.48), than those from earlier batches. However, differences among sire batches might reflect a combination of genetic and temporal factors, including changes in management, nutrition and health care, and therefore cannot be interpreted as direct estimates of genetic merit. Mean body weight at six months increased significantly from batch 12 to 13 and remained consistent thereafter, while a marked decline observed in batch 16 at one year and heifer stages which was attributed to limited data collection during the COVID-19 lockdown. The findings highlight the importance of appropriate management practices and systematic selection within Frieswal breeding programmes for improving growth performance under field conditions.
Keywords: Body weight, field progeny testing, frieswal cattle, Kerala
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© 2026 Pavithra et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Pavithra, P., Radhika, G., Kurian, E., Gleeja, V.L., Harish, D., Bindu, K.A. & Kumar, R. (2026). Factors influencing body weight of Frieswal cattle in field progeny testing units of Kerala. Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, 57(3), 369-373