This paper aims to create awareness among the public about the importance of rabbit farming to meet food crisis in the future. Rabbits can be easily reared by small-scale farmers in theirÂ  backyardÂ  withÂ  minimalÂ  investmentsÂ  forÂ  moreÂ  incomeÂ  generation.Â  RabbitsÂ  makeÂ  useÂ  of forages of low nutritive value to produces highly nutritious meat and the faeces of the rabbits canÂ  beÂ  usedÂ  asÂ  anÂ  alternativeÂ  toÂ  inorganicÂ  fertilizer,Â  thisÂ  interactionÂ  betweenÂ  rabbitsÂ  andÂ  soil makes rabbit farming suitable for integrated farming system. Waste ofÂ  rabbits make excellent compost which in turn makes high quality organic fertilizer. The rabbit faeces were used in the manufactureÂ  ofÂ  bio-digestersÂ  andÂ  theÂ  fertilizerÂ  valueÂ  ofÂ  theÂ  faecesÂ  aidsÂ  toÂ  improveÂ  the environmentÂ  byÂ  reducingÂ  methaneÂ  emissions.Â  FeedingÂ  andÂ  housingÂ  managementÂ  ofÂ  rabbits were not much complicated. Rabbit house can be made from locally available materials and the rabbits can be fed with household wastes and the forages and legumes that can be cultivated within the farmers own farm, that should meet the animals daily needs. Thus the construction and off farm feed costs will be reduced. This makes sure that the rabbit farming will be well accepted by small scale farmers to meet both their nutritious and financial requirements. The farmers can also expand their farm to a commercial level, if guidance, knowledge and technical supports were provided and this makes the market to flood with rabbit in the future which is the only way for food security and employment generation

Kavanya, T

Rajendran, R

Thiruvenkadan, A K

English

Open Access Jurnal Politeknik Negeri Jember

 Proceedings of The Second International on Food and Agriculture | 591 RABBIT PRODUCTION VIS-À-VIS POVERTYALLEVIATION AND FOOD SECURITY IN ASIAR Rajendran1*, T Kavanya2 and A K Thiruvenkadan31Professor, Post Graduate Research Institute in Animal Sciences,Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India  6032032Young Professional, Post Graduate Research Institute in Animal Sciences,Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India 6032033Professor, Veterinary College and Research Institute,  Tamil Nadu Veterinary and AnimalSciences University, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India 637002Email : drrajjam@gmail.comAbstract. This paper aims to create awareness among the public about the importance of rabbitfarming to meet food crisis in the future. Rabbits can be easily reared by small-scale farmers intheir backyard with minimal investments for more income generation. Rabbits make use offorages of low nutritive value to produces highly nutritious meat and the faeces of the rabbitscan be used as an alternative to inorganic fertilizer, this interaction between rabbits and soilmakes rabbit farming suitable for integrated farming system. Waste of  rabbits make excellentcompost which in turn makes high quality organic fertilizer. The rabbit faeces were used in themanufacture of bio-digesters and the fertilizer value of the faeces aids to improve theenvironment by reducing methane emissions. Feeding and housing management of rabbitswere not much complicated. Rabbit house can be made from locally available materials and therabbits can be fed with household wastes and the forages and legumes that can be cultivatedwithin the farmers own farm, that should meet the animals daily needs. Thus the constructionand off farm feed costs will be reduced. This makes sure that the rabbit farming will be wellaccepted by small scale farmers to meet both their nutritious and financial requirements. Thefarmers can also expand their farm to a commercial level, if guidance, knowledge and technicalsupports were provided and this makes the market to flood with rabbit in the future which isthe only way for food security and employment generation.1. IntroductionMost of the populations of the Asian countries depend mainly on agriculture for their food, incomeand mere subsistence. Livestock plays an important role in improving the economic status of the poor.The purpose of livestock keeping of small scale farmers in these regions is for the draught power,food, cash income and organic fertilizers from faeces. They mostly rear only one species due to therisk of the diseases and management issues. Now there was a belief that the Rabbit farming has thepotential in improving income and food security of smallholder families by efficiently utilizing feedresources. Therefore, poor families with limited resources could make use of rabbit farming because ofincreased income and increased consumption of rabbit meat to meet the families’ nutritional needs.ASIA AND ITS FOOD CRISISAsia remains home to 67 per cent of the world’s hungry of about 552 million people, despite of itsrapid economic growth and a big reduction in poverty over the past two decades. The food price crisisafter decades of declining real prices was a major setback to the region’s poverty reduction efforts.Indeed, a recurrence of escalating, volatile world food prices is one of the three major risks facingAsia, alongside climate-related disasters and the impact of the global financial crisis. Slowing gains in The Second International Conference on Food and Agriculture ISBN : 978-602-14917-9-9  592 | Proceedings of The Second International on Food and Agriculture agricultural productivity, overexploitation of natural resources and increasing water scarcity are thecritical concerns on the supply side. The other big regional development challenge related to foodsecurity is the persistent malnutrition (ADB, 1999).The biggest challenge to sustaining food security and promoting inclusive rural growth in Asia are(i) revitalizing agricultural productivity growth, (ii) addressing the impacts of climate change onagriculture, (iii) the participation of small farmers in modern food value chains and (iv) tacklingpersistent malnutrition. By 2030, 40 per cent of developing Asia is projected to face severe watershortages, which, along with urban encroachment and soil erosion, will put a very significant stress onthe region’s agricultural land base.ROLE OF SMALL FARMERSFor securing more inclusive rural growth, Asia’s small, resource-poor farmers- an estimated 350million of them- must be able to participate in modern food value chains. A successful structuraltransformation would see the small scale agriculture evolve from subsistence-oriented production tocommercially oriented farming driven by the market forces of dynamic, urbanizing economies (ADB,1999). With the transformation, the impact on rural poverty and inclusivity could be enormous giventhat about 45 per cent  of Asia’s people depend on small farms for all or part of their livelihoods.Enabling them to participate in modern agricultural value chains could become a significantintervention to achieve this goal and also allows them to reduce cost, increase revenue and bargainingpower. For any innovations to be successful, it should reach the small farmers level and make sure thatthe technical advices and financial support should be provided.RABBIT PRODUCTION, A NEW APPROACH FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATIONRabbit production is a new development in the region, which plays an important role in the view offood security and income generation. According to the FAO (2001), backyard rabbit keeping providesadditional income and supplies additional protein for poor rural and urban households with lowinvestment and labour inputs. Rabbits have small body size, short generation interval, highreproductive potential, rapid growth rate, genetic diversity and the ability to utilize forages and by-products as major diet components that make the animal appropriate for small livestock keeping indeveloping countries (Cheeke, 1986).The advantages of small-scale rabbit production are:- As a small monogastric herbivore, the rabbit easily accommodates a fairly wide range ofcellulose-rich foods- It is adaptable to the family diet and food preservation techniques available on small rural andsemi-urban farms- It is highly productive in terms of offspring (kg/year/dam) thanks to mating induced ovulation,short gestation and lactation periods as well as  great prolificacy- It produces highly nutritious, low fat and low cholesterol meat- It is easy to  transport and market,  the recurrent costs for maintaining animal beyond theoptimum marketing age are low- Labour costs are low and the work can be done by family members: women and children, orperhaps aged or handicapped people, usually the most vulnerable and least privileged socialstrata for whom rabbit husbandry, like that of other small animals , represents an attractive andremunerative occupation- It represents a contribution to the family income- Investment is low: infrastructure and equipment can easily be put together by the breeder andnot much space is neededRABBIT FARMINGIn general, locally adapted, rustic breeds or crossbreeds are usually more suitable for small scaleextensive production systems than recently imported exotic animals from intensive productionsystems. The growth rates of rabbits range from 10 to 20 g/day in the tropical regions compared to The Second International Conference on Food and Agriculture ISBN : 978-602-14917-9-9  Proceedings of The Second International on Food and Agriculture | 593 temperate countries, where growth performance typically is between 35 to 40 g/day (Lukefahr andCheeke, 1991). Heat stress and quality of the diets decides these differences. High ambienttemperatures can cause infertility in breeding rabbits, bucks being more sensitive than does. The housefor rabbits can be made from local materials, such as small poles or sticks and bamboo. The main ideafor designing of houses was to prevent losses from predators. Proper hygiene and management ofcages could prevent the spread of certain epidemic diseases. Diets should consist of nutritious andpalatable grasses, forages and legumes that can adapt to the region. It was also recommended to uselocal feed resources which farmers can produce in plots to provide diets that have high contents ofdigestible energy and protein.INTEGRATION OF RABBIT FARMINGMany countries have focused on rabbit projects as a means to target poverty alleviation. A sustainablesystem of rabbit production involves the use of renewable on-farm resources, such as local breeds,feedstuffs from forage or garden plots, local materials for hutches and other equipment, and familylabour. The key is low investment and operational costs. In addition, the integration of rabbits withother farming enterprises generally results in “increasing the whole more than the sum its parts” (i.e.,nutrient recycling among aquaculture, garden and vermiculture activities) (Lukefahr, 2007).Livestock convert plant materials that are low in nutritive value into high quality products andreturn nutrients to the soil in the form of faeces. This synergistic interaction between livestock andcrop can improve the sustainability of the farming system and improve soil fertility. Livestock faeces,including rabbit wastes and human excreta have been used as materials for biodigesters that aids toimprove the environment by reducing methane emissions and preventing deforestation. The faecesfrom rabbits make excellent compost, which is rich in organic matter and nutrients that can produceremarkable results for the home garden and flowers.ANIMAL PRODUCTS FOR MALNUTRITIONRabbit meat is lean, rich in proteins of high biological value, low in cholesterol content and high inlinolenic acid, this makes the rabbit meat to be recommended by nutritionists over other meats. Rabbitmeat was richer in calcium (21.4 mg/100g) and phosphorous (347 mg/100g) than other types of meatand lower in fat (9.2mg/100g) and cholesterol (56.4 mg/100g) (Nistor et al., 2013). This high proteinand low fat content of the rabbit meat is preferred over other meats to overcome malnutrition.Many of the developing regions of the world are now facing a double burden of a growingpopulation and malnutrition. In most developing countries in Asia, and even in food surplus countries,malnutrition still exists, which results in ignorance and poverty among rural peoples. Animal productshave contributed from 3 to 45 per cent of total food calories for humans in the Asia-pacific region in1999 with the lowest (3.0%) in Bangladesh and highest in Mangolia (45%), while Australia, Japan andNew Zealand also consume high quantities of animal products, accounting for 20 to 30 per cent offood calories from animal products (Samkol and Lukefahr, 2008). Without the availability of animalsthat largely use agricultural by-products and forages and vegetative plants, there would certainly beless food production.RABBIT POPULATION AND PRODUCTIONThe world production of rabbit meat is of the order of 1.5 million tons. This would mean a per capitalannual consumption of roughly 280g of rabbit meat; however, most inhabitants in many countries inmany countries do not consume rabbit meat as compared to the consumption of 2.5-3 kg/year inFrance and 4-4.5 kg/year per capita in Italy (Lebas and Colin, 1992). Europe is indeed the centre ofworld rabbit production (75%). China ranks second, which specifically involves the central Chineseprovinces, such as Sichuan and Szechuan (Samkol and Lukefahr, 2008). Some regions of Africa,Central America and Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia are considered as less production areas. Itwas reported that the countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam account for87 per cent of the total doe population and Brunei has the largest number of breeding does per 1,000 The Second International Conference on Food and Agriculture ISBN : 978-602-14917-9-9  594 | Proceedings of The Second International on Food and Agriculture inhabitants (Bondoc et al., 1986). Vietnam led other countries in the total value of rabbit meatproduced per 1,000 USD of the country’s total gross national product. Rabbits are not reared insignificant numbers in most countries of the Near East.A SUCCESSFUL BACKYARD RABBIT FARMINGLukefahr and Cheeke (1991) stated that a farmer rearing ten does, fed using forage based diet andusing supplements produced from the farm can yield 200 fryers annually i.e., a breeding doe couldproduce 20 marketable offspring from 4 litters/year. The doe production can be increased to 6 littersper year, if concentrate feeds were included in their diet. Two to five fryers could be consumedweekly, and the rest sold for income, depending on the family size and its body weight composition. Alive fryer weighing an average of 2.5 kg with a 60 per cent carcass yield should produce about 1.0 kgof edible meat of which there should be approximately 200g of protein. In general, backyard rabbitfarming with the size of 4 to 5 breeding does can support the family financially with low investmentand operating costs. It takes little time or money to either down-scale or expand the size of theoperation with minimal economic risk. The market demand should be considered before looking forthe expansion of the farm commercially to avoid flooding of the market with rabbits. In addition,rabbit meat should be competitive with other meats by setting the price lower than that of broiler.RABBITS FOR FOOD SECURITY AND INCOMEAdvantage of rabbits is their ability to convert plants into animal protein by directly consumingforages, which is appropriate in traditional agriculture systems in Asia that largely maintain mixedcrop and livestock farming systems, where the small holder farmers decide the economic viability ofanimal products. Since rabbit production is a viable agricultural enterprise, the opportunity exists withthe goal to alleviate poverty. Farmers can also wish to expand their farm by re-investing their capital,but before that market needs and consumer demand should be developed. Farm expansion shoulddepend solely to alleviate poverty and malnutrition.RABBIT PROJECTRabbit projects have been developed by governmental and non-governmental organizations to targetfamilies with the aim of poverty alleviation. Basically, four reasons exist:- Low cost to the programme for breeding stock- Low investment and operating costs to farmers- Early benefits to farmers and loan returns to the programme and- More rapid rate of project multiplicationOverall, there is minimum economic risk to both the programme and to farmers because rabbit projectis not expensive. It is important that the project participants should be carefully selected and trainedwell by the programme to ultimately become successful rabbit farmers. Because of the complexconnections between the root causes and the solutions of poverty, the goal of the rabbit programmemay have several aims, which are typically directed at improving family health and nutrition,enhancing food security and increasing income (Lukefahr, 2007). A farmer should first receive rabbittraining, establish forage plots or a garden and construct clutches and a place for rearing.CONCLUSIONThis paper has presented the poverty status in Asia and the appropriate strategies for establishingsmall-scale rabbit production units for small families to overcome poverty and malnutrition. It alsodiscusses the rabbit rearing, integration, its population and production and its role in povertyalleviation. Hence, it is concluded that the developing rabbit farming is the more practical solution toovercome the food crisis in future and to make a country nutritious. The Second International Conference on Food and Agriculture ISBN : 978-602-14917-9-9  Proceedings of The Second International on Food and Agriculture | 595 REFERENCES:[1] ADB (1999). Fighting poverty in Asia and the Pacific: The poverty reduction strategy. AsianDevelopment Bank, Manila.[2] Bondoc, O. L., Penalba, F. F. and Arboleda, C. R. (1986). Small scale rabbit production in thePhilippines. Animal Production Technology (Philippines). Volume 2, Number 2: 23-26.[3] Cheeke, P.R. (1986). Potentials of rabbit production in tropical and subtropical agriculturalsystems. Journal of  Animal Sciences, 63, 1581-1586.[4] FAO (2001). FAO recognizes the increasingly important role of rabbit breeding: Globalrabbit production exceeds 1 million tons. Press released 01/57, FAO, Rome, Italy.http://www.fao.org/waicent/ois/press_ne/presseng/2001/pren0157.htm.[5] Lebas, F. and Colin M. (1992). World rabbit production and research: situation in 1992. In:Proc. 5th World Rabbit Congress, 1992 July, Corvallis, USA, Vol. A, 29-54.[6] Lukefahr, S.D. (2007). Strategies for the development of small- and medium-scale rabbitfarming in South-East Asia. Livestock Research for Rural Development, 19 (138).http://www.cipav.org.co/lrrd/lrrd19/9/luke19138.htm.[7] Lukefahr S.D. and Cheeke P.R. (1991). Rabbit project development strategies in subsistencefarming systems. World Animal Review, 6, 60-70.http://www.fao.org/docrep/U5700T/u5700T0d.htm.[8] Nistor, E., Bampidis, V., Pacala, N., Pentea, M., Tozer, J., Prundeanu, H. (2013). Nutrientcontent of rabbit meat as compared to chicken, beef and pork meat. Journal of AnimalProduction Advances, 3, 172-176.[9] Samkol P. and Lukefahr S.D. (2008). A challenging role for organic rabbit production towardspoverty alleviation in South East Asia. 9th World Rabbit Congress, June 10-13,2008, Verona,Italy,1479-14. The Second International Conference on Food and Agriculture ISBN : 978-602-14917-9-9 

RABBIT PRODUCTION VIS-Ã€-VIS POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND FOOD SECURITY IN ASIA

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RABBIT PRODUCTION VIS-Ã€-VIS POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND FOOD SECURITY IN ASIA

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Open Access Jurnal Politeknik Negeri Jember