Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Corporation to promote rabbit farming

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The City Corporation has finalised the blueprint for a project to promote rabbit farming as an income-generating activity.

As many as 100 units comprising of five persons each will form the core component of the pilot project to be implemented in the Attipra and Nemom zones of the Corporation. The civic body has entered into a buy-back arrangement with the Poultry Development Corporation to ensure that the project does not suffer from marketing problems. The meat processing unit of the Poultry Development Corporation at Pettah and its marketing system will be utilised for the project.

Civic officials said the pilot project is likely to be launched next week. As many as 25 beneficiaries have been identified at Attipra.

Mayor C. Jayan Babu and the Corporation’s chief veterinary surgeon Dr. L. Ravikumar visited rabbit farms in Alappuzha to assess the problems faced by farmers. According to Dr. Ravikumar, rabbits in captivity were found to be prone to attack from predators like stray dogs and civet cats. “Neighbours often object to the pungent smell emanating from rabbit cages. Farmers also identified waste disposal as a major problem,” he said.

Based on the observations, the project management team has drawn up a plan to introduce rabbit farming as a neighbourhood activity involving several or all families in a locality. “The farmers will be provided with strong, corrosion-resistant cages with separate enclosures for adults and kits,” Dr. Ravikumar said. Kudumbasree units will be encouraged to take up rabbit farming as a micro-enterprise. The Corporation has drawn up plans to keep a close tab on the pilot project.

The Poultry Development Corporation will supply the cages, rabbits, and feed. It will also train the farmers and take steps to popularise rabbit meat. The meat is considered to be low-fat, low-cholesterol and fibre-rich. The beneficiaries will be required to construct a safe shed to keep the cages.

Broiler rabbits of the Soviet Phinchila breed will be supplied to the farmers. Each unit is to be provided with four females and a male. A rabbit can achieve a weight of four kg. in three months. Rabbit meat fetches a price of up to Rs.200 per kg, making the venture a profitable one for the farmers. Other than fungal skin diseases, rabbits are immune to most other ailments. While the adult animals can be sold for meat, the farmers can make additional profit by supplying kits to other units.

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