Rabbit farming in Kashmir valley is emerging as a lucrative business
Rabbit Farming
Asifa Amin Koul (Kashmir Times)
Srinagar: Though still in infancy, rabbit farming is emerging as a lucrative business in the valley.
Besides one government farm at Pattan, there are over 250 private rabbit farms across the valley and if it takes off it is expected to be a multi-crore industry in the next few years.
The popular rabbit breeds, which are reared for this purpose, in the valley are French Angora (wool), Gray Giants, New Zealand White and Chinchillas (mutton).
To set up a rabbit farm requires small investment as well as small space and has promise of better returns than other livestock ventures chiefly due to the advantages that this species has over other animals. A small unit can have six rabbits with male and female ratio of the order of 1:5.
“Rabbit is a prolific multiplier having a gestation period of about 30 days. Out of a small unit one can have four to five crops annually, i.e., around 100 kindlings a year,” said R L Kher, director animal sheep husbandry.
Apart from meat, this meek innocent looking animal provides several marketable products such as wool, fur or pelt which can be used for making numerous utilities and fancy products.
It’s meat is lean, white with high protein and low fat and cholesterol content and it’s wool is finer, lighter and warmer than that produced by most sheep breeds.
“I am planning to start my own rabbit farm. What attracted me to this business is that it can be initiated with few thousand rupees and has quick returns. It can also be started as a backyard activity and add to additional income,” said Rafiq Ahmad, a farmer.
The experts opine that if the market is tapped fully, the rabbit industry can create employment avenues and help in income generation for the local entrepreneurs. “I think it is a lucrative business. I foresee a very good future in this industry for entrepreneurs here,” opined Shakeel Qalandar, the President of the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industries Kashmir (FCCI).
Qalandar said that the famous fur industry in Kashmir was earlier not only based on rabbit but also on the hides of other wild animals. “But since the state government imposed ban on the killing of few animals, there is a scope of diverting the market to rabbit farming for its wool and hides,” he added.
The state presently imports rabbit skins from France and other countries which are then processed locally to make various products.
Qalandar, however, maintained that the imported products can be substituted if the real commercial potential of rabbits is sharpened by adopting organised farming which otherwise is missing in the valley at the moment.
“The government does not have very sound and composite policy to promote rabbit farming or any other livestock activity as a small-scale industry although it has been given the status of an industry worldwide. It has also failed to provide incentives and other benefits to promote rabbit farms on a commercial scale in the valley,” he said.
He stressed upon creation of a livestock development authority which could devise and formulate policies to encourage local entrepreneurs to adapt for rabbit and other livestock farming. “The government should also set up processing units as a back up to this industry,” he added.
Kher, however, claimed that the state government had started a scheme based on participatory mode sometime back but it soon deflated owing to the little response from the people.
“Though rabbit meat has medicinal values such as for Asthma patients, it still has small clientele in the valley. Unless and until rabbit meat gets popular here, rabbit farming will fail to exist as a big industry here,” Kher said.