Impact of selenium and zinc supplementation on semen attributes of Murrah buffalo bulls

Abstract

This study determined the impact of selenium and zinc supplementation in the production of spermatozoa and semen quality of Murrah buffaloes. Thirty (30) Murrah buffalo bulls used for semen production at the at Central Research Institute on Buffalo, Sirsa Road, Hisar, Haryana were allotted into three treatment groups. The first treatment (T0) with no supplementary selenium and zinc. The second (T1) and the third (T2) treatments were given 35 mg/kg dry matter intake of the animal and 35 mg/Kg + 0.20 mg/kg dry matter intake of the animal for the entire duration of the experiment. The buffalo bull fed with rations composed of burseem/green maize/jowar, wheat straw, concentrate (wheat bran, maize, barley and GNC). Semen collection was done bi-weekly using artificial vagina method and the semen volume (ml), sperm concentration (million per ml), sperm concentration (million per ejaculate), gross motility (%) and progressive motility. The results showed that T2 produced the highest values on semen volume (3. 42 ml), sperm concentration (1205.88±99.66 million/ml), sperm concentration (4124.11±257.20 million/ejaculate), sperm gross motility (81.65±2.29%) and progressive motility (56.65±2.20). Overall results further revealed that the average sperm production and semen quality were improved by supplementation of dietary selenium and zinc and their combination.