Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Multivariate characterization of phenotypic traits of five native cattle populations from Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

  • Regular Articles
  • Published:
Tropical Animal Health and Production Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Abergelle, Arado, Begait, Irob, and Raya are important native cattle populations that are well adapted to the harsh natural conditions in Tigray, Ethiopia. However, little is known about their phenotypic characteristics and inter-population variability. Understanding the phenotypic characteristics is the crucial step in an effort of maintaining genetic diversity and conserving important traits for adaptation. A total of 1650 native matured cattle from the five populations were used to investigate the phenotypic characteristics and variability based on 21 qualitative traits and 21 body measurements using uni- and multivariate, and discriminant analysis. All the qualitative traits and body measurements showed highly significant breed difference except the tail base thickness. Values for most of the body measurements were higher in Begait cattle compared to the other cattle populations. The stepwise discriminant analysis extracted eighteen variables for characterizing the female populations and thirteen variables for the male populations. The pair-wise Mahalanobis distance showed the highest morphological distance between Begait and Irob, and the closest distance between Abergelle and Irob cattle populations. High correct assignment to source population was obtained for both sexes of all breeds except Abergelle and Irob. The discriminant function graph discerned each population with no clear distinction between Abergelle and Irob. These results indicate that the five cattle populations under investigation are clustered into four distinct breeds. However, the present phenotypic characterization should be confirmed with molecular genetic diversity investigation to use as a base in their conservation, breeding, and selection strategies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aziz, M.M.A. and Al-Hur, F.S., 2013. Differentiation between three Saudi goat types using Size-free Canonical Discriminant Analysis. Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture, 723-735.

  • Birteeb, P.T., Peters, S.O., Yakubu, A., Adeleke, M.A. and Ozoje, M.O., 2012. Multivariate characterization of the phenotypic traits of Djallonke and Sahel sheep in Northern Ghana. Tropical animal health and production, 45, 267-274.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chebo, C., Ayalew, W. and Wuletaw, Z., 2013. On-farm phenotypic characterization of indigenous cattle populations of Gamo Goffa zone, Southern Ethiopia. Animal Genetic Resources/Resources génétiques animales/Recursos genéticos animales, 52, 71- 82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CSA (Central Statistical Agency), 2018. Agricultural sample survey 2017/18[2010E.C.] Volume II. Report on livestock and livestock characteristics (private peasant holdings). CSA, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

  • Dossa, L.H., Wollny, C. and Gauly, M., 2007. Spatial variation in goat populations from Benin as revealed by multivariate analysis of morphological traits. Small Ruminant Research, 73,150-159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Egbo, M.N and Bartholomew, D.C., 2017. A Discriminant Function Analysis Approach to Country’s Economy Status. Journal of Advanced Statistics, 2, 4.

  • FAO, 2007. The State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, B. Rischkowsky and D. Pilling (eds), FAO, Rome, Italy. http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf.

  • FAO, 2009. The State of Food and Agriculture: Livestock in the Balance, T. Raney (eds), FAO, Rome, Italy.

  • FAO, 2012. Phenotypic characterization of animal genetic resources. FAO Animal Production and Health Guidelines No. 11. Rome, Italy.

  • Ftiwi, M. and Tamir, B., 2015. On-Farm Phenotypic Characterization of Indigenous Begait Cattle in Western Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Journal of. Animal Production Advances, 5, 718-732.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gebrehiwot, T., van der Veen, A. and Maathuis, B., 2011. Spatial and temporal assessment of drought in the Northern highlands of Ethiopia. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 13, 309-321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Genzebu, D., 2009. On-Farm Phenotypic Characterization of Arado Cattle Breed in North West Zone of Tigray, Ethiopia. MSc. thesis submitted to school of graduate studies, Addis Ababa University, 89.

  • Getachew, F., 2006. On-farm Phenotypic Characterization of Cattle Genetic Resources and their Production Systems in Awi, East and West Gojjam zones of Amhara Region, Ethiopia.

  • Getachew, F., Abegaz, S., Misganaw, M. and Fekansa, T., 2014. On-farm Phenotypic Characterization of Ogaden Cattle Populations of Jigjiga zone, Southeastern Ethiopia.

  • Gillooly, J.F., Brown, J.H., West, G.B., Savage, V.M. and Charnov, E.L., 2001. Effects of size and temperature on metabolic rate. Science, 293, 2248-2251.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Haftom, H., Haftu, A., Goitom, K. and Meseret, H., 2019. Agroclimatic zonation of Tigray region of Ethiopia based on aridity index and traditional agro-climatic zones. Journal of Agrometeorology, 21, 176-181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanotte, O., Bradley, D.G., Ochieng, J.W., Verjee, Y., Hill, E.W. and Rege, J.E.O., 2002. African pastoralism: genetic imprints of origins and migrations. Science, 296,336-339.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kumasi, T.C. and Asenso-Okyere, K., 2011. Responding to land degradation in the highlands of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. International Food Policy Research Institute, 1142, 44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lacine, B.K., Cyrille, K.N.G., Etienne, L.N.G., Guiguigbaza-Kossigan, D., Mamadou, S. and Valentine, Y.G.C., 2018. Multivariate Analysis for Morphological Characteristics of N’Dama Cattle Breed in Two Agro-ecological Zones of Côte d’Ivoire.

  • Li, M.H., Zerabruk, M., Vangen, O., Olsaker, I. and Kantanen, J., 2007. Reduced genetic structure of north Ethiopian cattle revealed by Y-chromosome analysis. Heredity, 98, 214-221.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lombebo, W.A. and Zeleke, N.A., 2018. On Farm Phenotypic Characterization of Local Cattle Populations in Hadiya Zone, Southern Region, Ethiopia. J Adv Dairy Res, 6, 2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Long, F.H., 2013. Multivariate analysis for metabolomics and proteomics data. In Proteomic and Metabolomic Approaches to Biomarker Discovery, 299-311. Academic Press.

  • Minuye, N., Abebe, G. and Dessie, T., 2018. On-farm description and status of Nuer (Abigar) cattle breed in Gambella Regional State, Ethiopia. International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation, 10, 292-302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MoA (Ministry of Agriculture), 1998. Agro-Ecological Zones of Ethiopia, Natural Resources Management and Regulatory Department, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

  • MoARD (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) 2005. Major Agro ecological Zones of Ethiopia. Forestry, Land use and Soil conservation Dept, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

  • Mwai, O., Hanotte, O., Kwon, Y.J. and Cho, S., 2015. African indigenous cattle: Unique Genetic Resources in a Rapidly Changing World. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, 28, 911.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nyssen, J., Haile, M., Naudts, J., Munro, N., Poesen, J., Moeyersons, J., Frankl, A., Deckers, J. and Pankhurst, R., 2009. Desertification? Northern Ethiopia re-photographed after 140 years. Science of the total environment, 407, 2749-2755.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pundir, R.K., Singh, P.K. and Sadana, D.K., 2015. Multivariate analysis of morphometric traits of three different indigenous cattle populations from North East states of India. Jurnal Ilmu Ternak dan Veteriner, 20, 79-86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramayah, T., Ahmad, N.H., Halim, H.A. and May-Chiun, S.R.M.Z., 2010. Discriminant analysis: An illustrated example. African Journal of Business Management, 4, 1654.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rege, J.E.O., 1999. The state of African cattle genetic resources I. Classification framework and identification of threatened and extinct breeds. Animal Genetic Resources/Resources génétiques animales/Recursos genéticos animales, 25, 1-25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rege, J.E.O. and Gibson, J.P., 2003. Animal genetic resources and economic development: issues in relation to economic valuation. Ecological economics, 45, 319-330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sansthan, L.P. and KÖhler-Rollefson, I., 2005. Indigenous breeds, local communities: Documenting animal breeds and breeding from a community perspective.

  • SAS, 2009. Statistical Analysis System User’s guide: Release 9.2. SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC, USA.

  • SPSS, I., 2017. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 25. Armonk, NY: IBM SPSS Corp.

  • Tadesse, D., Ayalew, W. and Hegde, B.P., 2008. On-farm phenotypic characterization of cattle genetic resources in south and north Wollo Zones of Amhara Region, north eastern Ethiopia. Eth. J. Anim. Prod, 39-51.

  • Tenagne, A., Mekuriaw, G. and Kumar, D., 2016. Phenotypic Characterization of Indigenous Cattle Populations in West Gojjam Administrative Zones, Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia. Journal of Life Science and Biomedicine, 6, 127, 138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terefe, E., Dessie, T., Haile, A., Mulatu, W. and Mwai, O., 2015. On-farm phenotypic characterization of Mursi cattle in its production environment in South Omo Zone, Southwest Ethiopia. Animal Genetic Resources/Resources génétiques animales/Recursos genéticos animales, 57, 15-24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Traore, A., Tamboura, H.H., Kabore, A., Royo, L.J., Fernandez, I.V.Á.N., Alvarez, I., Sangare, M., Bouchel, D., Poivey, J.P., Francois, D. and Sawadogo, L., 2008. Multivariate analyses on morphological traits of goats in Burkina Faso. Archives Animal Breeding, 51, 588-600.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yakubu, A. and Akinyemi, M.O., 2010. An evaluation of sexual size dimorphism in Uda sheep using multifactorial discriminant analysis. Acta Agriculturae Scand Section A, 60, 74-78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yakubu, A. and Ibrahim, I.A., 2011. Multivariate analysis of morphostructural characteristics in Nigerian indigenous sheep. Italian Journal of Animal Science, 10, e17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yakubu, A., Salako, A.E. and Imumorin, I.G., 2010. Multivariate analysis of spatial patterns of morphological traits in West African Dwarf goats in three agro-ecological zones of Nigeria. Journal of Applied Animal Research, 38, 257-260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeleke, B., Getachew, M and Worku, K., 2017. Phenotypic Characterization of Indigenous Cattle Populations in Gamo Gofa Zone South Western Ethiopia. European Journal of Biological Sciences, 9, 124-130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zerabruk, M., Vangen, O. and Haile, M., 2007. The status of cattle genetic resources in North Ethiopia: On-farm characterization of six major cattle breeds. Animal Genetic Resources/Resources génétiques animales/Recursos genéticos animales, 40, 15-32.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Tigray Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) and Addis Ababa University for granting the research. We want also thank Mekelle Agricultural Research Center for supporting logistic facilities during data collection and the livestock experts at regional, district, and village level, and farmers for their valuable cooperation during data collection.

Availability of data and material

All the data are included in the manuscript.

Funding

This project was funded by Tigray Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) and Addis Ababa University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mekelle Agricultural Research Center, Tigray Agricultural Research Institute, P.O. Box 492, Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia

    Tsadkan Zegeye

  2. Department of Microbial, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Tsadkan Zegeye & Gurja Belay

  3. Live Gene – CTLGH, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), P.O Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    Olivier Hanotte

  4. Cells, Organism and Molecular Genetics, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2TQ, UK

    Olivier Hanotte

Authors
  1. Tsadkan Zegeye
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gurja Belay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Olivier Hanotte
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Tsadkan Zegeye performed the research as part of her PhD work. It was carried out under the supervision of Gurja Belay and Olivier Hanotte. All authors read and approved the final manuscript and also aware of its submission to Tropical Animal Health and Production.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tsadkan Zegeye.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare that this manuscript is their own original work and has not been submitted before to any another journal.

Ethics approval and Consent to Participate

The manuscript does not contain clinical studies or patient data.

Consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zegeye, T., Belay, G. & Hanotte, O. Multivariate characterization of phenotypic traits of five native cattle populations from Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Trop Anim Health Prod 53, 212 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-021-02652-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-021-02652-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation