<![CDATA[Bali cattle (Bos javanicus) are an indigenous Indonesian cattle resource with high relevance for tropical beef production, genetic-resource conservation, and smallholder livestock systems. This systematic literature review synthesizes empirical evidence on genetic, reproductive, and production traits of Bali cattle to identify priorities for sustainable breeding. Literature was identified primarily through Scopus using Boolean terms related to Bali cattle, genetics, breeding, selection, reproduction, production, health, feed resources, and sustainability. After screening by date, document type, language, scope, and relevance, 55 studies were included and synthesized narratively into four themes. The first theme shows that microsatellite, mitochondrial DNA, Cyt-b, D-loop, 16S rRNA, and complete mitogenome studies consistently position Bali cattle as a distinct Bos javanicus-derived genetic resource closely related to Banteng. The second theme demonstrates that reproductive performance varies widely across management systems and that semen evaluation increasingly benefits from computer-assisted sperm analysis, sperm DNA integrity, acrosome integrity, protamine status, seminal plasma minerals, antioxidant supplementation, and assisted reproductive technologies. The third theme indicates that morphometric traits such as chest girth, body length, and height are practical predictors of body weight, while candidate genes including PLAG1, MSTN, MC4R, CAPN1, SCD, FREM2, and FABP4 show variable readiness for marker-assisted selection. The fourth theme reveals that feed insufficiency, disease risks, smallholder economics, marketing channels, and manure management shape whether genetic and reproductive potential is converted into sustainable productivity. Overall, Bali cattle improvement requires an integrated breeding framework combining genetic conservation, validated markers, standardized phenotyping, reproductive management, feed-resource planning, health surveillance, and smallholder-oriented implementation. The review contributes a multi-level evidence framework for sustainable Bali cattle breeding in tropical production systems.]]>
