TWENTY-FIVE poor families in Barangay Ap-apid, Tinoc, Ifugao have ventured into rabbit raising with help from the provincial government.
The families are beneficiaries of the Ifugao government’s Integrated Area Development Assistance Program (IADAP).
Each family was given one male and two female rabbits to start off the project.
Ferdinand Dunuan, training coordinator of the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVET), said raising rabbits for their meat is being introduced in Ap-apid as a lucrative enterprise since the vegetable-growing village is replete with vegetable waste products and other plant fodder for rabbits.
Dunuan said a single male and two female rabbits can easily produce 40 to 50 rabbits in a year to provide meat on the table for each of the poor households.
Rabbit meat is has a high protein content but low in fats and cholesterol.
Rabbits are attacked by few diseases, they are completely herbivorous, they have a life span of 5-10 years and their manure is rich in nitrogen for use as garden fertilizer. (DBC)