KOZHIKODE: It is time for hundreds of Rabbit farmers in the State to rejoice, as the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has repealed the ban orders on rabbit slaughtering in the State. It was during 2014, that the FSSAI urged the State Government to strengthen the vigil and ensure compliance of the order which restricts slaughtering of dog, cat, rabbit and camel anywhere in the State.
FSSAI after taking suggestions, views and comments from stakeholders decided to include Leporidae (Rabbit family) under the species of animal that provide meat for human consumption. Earlier, the FSSAI had only included Ovines (sheep family), Caprines (goat family), Suillines (pig family), Bovines (cattle family including buffalo and bison) and poultry and fish for human consumption but the new proposed draft of FSSAI included Leporids to this list.
Excited over the revision of the draft, Dr Migdad Mullathayil, a rabbit farmer from Malappuram District said, “I have been into rabbit farming since 2005 and since then there was no looking back till the banning of rabbit meat in the State in 2014”.
Rabbit rearing was done by most household women, self help groups and Kudumbashree units because rabbit farming was very effective and lucrative. It was indeed a shock to more than 12,000 such small farmers who had to stop the farm after the ban on broiler rabbits (Oryctoagus Cuniculus) but the recent revision would help in reviving the business, he added.
Also, the earlier decision to ban was a major setback to the animal husbandry department – which owns rabbit farms and extensively promotes rabbit farming in the state. The revision of the draft now will help in resuming the farm.
Compared with pork and beef, rabbit meat is much richer in high quality proteins and certain vitamins and minerals and has less fat. “Fat in rabbit meat contains high proportions of polyunsaturated linolenic and linoleic fatty acids, and hence the demand for rabbit meat is always high and most sought after in Kerala,” Dr Migdad said.
