Organic Farming in Pakistan page 2

Published by City Farmer, Canada's Office of Urban Agriculture

Organic Farming in Pakistan page 2

By Farzana Panhwar (Mrs)
The Sindh Rural Women's Up-lift Group
157-C, Unit No.2, Latifabad, Hyderabad
(Sindh), Pakistan.
farzanapanhwar@hotmail.com
Fax: 9221-5830826 and 92221-862570

I am a bio-chemist working in the field of organic agriculture and effects of pollution and environment of human and animal and plant health.

Articles:

Page One

Organic Products, Social Qualities With Equal And Fair Trade Its Constrain And Future

Impact Of Biotechnology In Reducing Poverty And Hunger In Pakistan

Composting As An Organic Fertiliser

Producing Pesticide Free Fruits And Vegetables

Genetic Engineering, Biotechnology, Floriculture And Its Future In Pakistan

Page Two

Gender Issue In Rural Development Of Sindh In Pakistan

Poultry Farming Practice In Sindh-Pakistan

Chiku or Sapodilla The Neglected Fruit of Sindh

The Characteristics Of Rabbit Farming

Gender Issue In Rural Development Of Sindh In Pakistan

General.

Sindh is approximately 58,471 miles and is located at north east corner of Arabian Sea. In 1997 population of Pakistan was 137.8 million and growth rate was 2.8%. By the year 2025 its population will be 232.9 million. Cropped land available per capita in 1990 was 0.17 hectares in 2025 it will be 0.07 hectares. In 1992 CO2 emissions per capita was 0.6 metric tons. Provincial economy depend upon agriculture, the rural area are lacking basic facilities like good drinking water, health, education, road and electricity. Most of rural population are land less or own small land and work on the field of others. They receive wages in cash or kind.

Rural problems.

Rural areas problems are as under:-

Lack of capital and credit facilities.
Poor technical skills and therefore poor products.
Inadequate skill, limited control and access to the means of production: land degradation, credit facilities, skilled labour, technology, marketing etc., and high level of illiteracy among women.

Rural women's problems.

These problems are as under:-

Heavy work load.
High concentration of their labour time in unpaid work.
Restricted access to resources to improve agricultural productivity e.g. land, credit and extension service.
Low participation in non-farm business activity.
In rural areas, family 's economy is based on agriculture. The women seldom receive any cash income from their participation as labour, as their husbands and male members of the family control the money earned from agriculture or by lending them-selves as labour workers.
n Women do weeding, packing cotton, plucking vegetables, and husking. Women labourer generally unpaid and if paid, they are paid less than the, men who do the same amount of work in the same time.
n Women work more but it is not recognised and is not included policy formulation, nor it is reflected in the labour or statistics.
n Rural women along with he domestic responsibility, also help in raising of popularly or live-stock milking and grazing.
n Rural women suffer due to land degradation, deforestation and population growth, which have diminished local employment opportunities.

The role of women in rural area in agriculture is affected due to:

Decrease in quantity of land (due to deforestation and privatisation of land)
Decrease in land quality, due to soil and water loss, siltation and over grazing.

Women traditionally are discriminated against having access to resources, such as land, water and agriculture. Due to environmental degradation, rural women spend longer time for fetching fuel and water.

Role of rural women in various walks of life.

a) Women access and control. Women have no access on income, which is land based and man control land resources, and controls its production and income.

b) Women, land and energy. Women collect fuel wood from fellow land. With increased scarcity of this resource, increased population pressure, over grazing and desertification, women get difficulty in supply of fuel and spend longer hours in searching for it.

c) Women, land and water. Low and erratic precipitation, falling water tables in an increasing number of areas, forcing rural women to spend more time in water collection. Lack of water or poor quality water, affects family health and puts extra burden on women. This also shows indirect effect on diet and fodder grow for raising animals and also affect on each received by selling of eggs or poultry or goat farming produces.

d) Women in labour force.

Women labour is utilised in collection of water, fuel, animal grazing and poultry farming.
Women work as labour on other farms and they utilise poor quality land for production of fodder, pulses and vegetables for the family consumption.

e) Poverty alleviation.

Failure of rural areas to provide sufficient jobs, family income, this compel rural men to go for search of other jobs.
When men migrate to urban areas in search of jobs, this puts more burden on women. This also dcreases the sound enviornmental management practices which erode the sustainability of house-hold food provisioning.
In order to help rural women we need to study existing policies and constraints, which hamper the promotion of women's employment and income-generation. We need to explore sustainable measures to support to women's employment and economic activities. For this purpose we need to develop various projects, their aims should be:

f) Rural women project aims.

To improve rural women groups and increase their production and marketing, also to increase cash income from productive activities to help them to control resources and strengthened extension and community development work and to assist them on regular basis and in appropriate way.
Local, provincial and national staff should have capacity to plan and manage technical projects in support of rural women's activities.
It is needed to promote access to quality, primary health care service, with special emphasis on improving the quality of reproductive health service for women and children and specially for ethic minorities groups in Sindh.

g) Women and Rural Development.

Dialogue are needed between policy makers, researchers and activists about ideas for policy interventions and programmes, to improve women's access to land and for her employment, various methods which will be helpful in poverty alleviation and house-hold security.

We have to improve rural women earning capacity, this earning brings independence and security and they contribute to the well-being of their families, the small amount of women's earning helps in increasing influence and power in the family decision making.
Women should be paid atleast minimum wages, and women should be paid equal wages to men for work. This should be fixed according to international labour laws.
Rural women does not get information on their legal rights so can not fight for it.
Rural women are illiterate so they lack access to improved technology, which increases production and their returns for labour and labour time. We have to develop strategy based on strengthening their access to land, credit, new technology and other inputs. Also we have to draw lessons on strategies and polices, which can prove effective in improving rural women's condition.
Women role in both productive and reproductive activities is rendered arduous and time consuming due to lack of access to labour saving and productivity enhancing technologies.
We need awareness programs, which help in increasing women role in income-generation activities, wage labour in the farm and non-farm sectors. This will change men 's attitude towards women's work.
We have to provide basic general education and vocational training to women involved with agricultural activities and ensure that women have access to results.
To provide women with resources and training in family planning and health care that will enable them to take decisions in these areas.
Rural women need training for up grading and diversifying skills, literacy to develop leadership among rural women.
Women should be trained in rural activities like animal husbandry, horticulture, poultry, sericulture and forestry.
Training programmes in environmental resources management based on women's know-how.
For policy reforms are necessary to establish rural women organisation, which increase women's power and ensure adequate representation of their interest.
To educate rural communities about the dynamics of community organisations as well as the building the management and programmatic capacity of existing rural organisations, using the available human and material resources on participatory basis.
To assist rural communities in income generation activities and saving schemes aiming at enhancement of their economic status.
Increase rural women participation in the development process needed, in consideration of the following points:

1) In-security of employment.

This includes seasonability of agricultural work, lack of diversity of employment present in rural areas, with limited marketable skill, due to high illiteracy rate.

2) Sexual division of labour.

This comes in the way of skill acquisition, employment opportunities by placing constraints, on the work permitted to women and discrimination on labour wages.

3) Lack of time.

Women have double work burden, and get less reward of their labour, their over work leads to exhaustion, malnutrition and health complications.

4) Lack of power.

Usually women have no power in decision making and usually middlemen in the rural community put more burden of poverty on them by taking up all the profit.

5) Discrimination and under evaluation of all women work.

Women get low status, low self-images and low self-esteem, lack of confidence about their own abilities. Women in the rural area have never asked for their own rights.

6) Invisibility.

women's work and their contribution in the development are invisible.

7) Un-organise nature of rural women's work.

Due to high percentage of illiteracy in rural area it has become difficult to organise rurla women's work.

Rural Extension Service Programmes.

The extension service are based on following points:-

To assist each village in planning, carrying out an integrated multiphased family and village plan directed towards increasing agricultural produciton.
Provide minimum essential health services and improve health practices.
To create employment opportunities.
To encourage growing of fruit trees and processing of it and also livestock products such as butter, cheese and soap.
To improve credit facilities for village.
To assist rural women in establishing their own markets.

Future work.

Research is needed to find impact of macro-policies for management of natural resources on rural women in the poverty sector.
Research is needed on (I) the economic losses which results from degradation (ii) the environmental impact of agricultural technologies.
Research is needed to the extent of self-reliance achieved by women's group through grass root organisation.
Research is needed to study the rural women workers and their role in economic and social development in the benefit keeping in view formulation, implementation and evaluation of rural development and national planning.
Research is needed to find extant of improved access to development programmes and resources by participating women.
More research and project need to develop for bio-mass; products from plants and annuals and not just trees, including food, feed, fuel, fodder, natural fertilisers, building materials, artisan raw materials, plant fibres, medicinal plants and herbs, fruits and nuts, seeds, oil resins and non-timber forest products.
Future activities based on promotion of human resources development and enhance entrepreneurial skill and income generation also build local community capacity and strengthen local culture.

CONCLUSION.

Study is required to find out the situation of specific categories of rural women workers like; women in wage employment in agriculture, casual labour, plantation of rice, picking of cotton, flowers, berries, tamarind which need special, attention. Also need to find out social and economic status of participating women. So future plan depends upon increase the absorption capacity, enhance socio economic development secure sustainable lively-hood for rural communities

Poultry Farming Practice In Sindh-Pakistan

Abstract.

The population of the poultry in Pakistan in year 1971-72 was 17.7 million it rose into 80.3 million in just 10 years period from 1982-83. The poultry meat production was 14,000 raise to 75,000 tons. The number of egg was 583 million to 4,213 millions. Per capita availability was from 9 to 47. There are 8,000 commercial farms was in the country in the year 1982-83. In 1986 the poultry population in Pakistan was 57.5 million heads while in Sindh it was 8.7 million heads. In 1994-95 the total meat was 2.1 million tonnes/million out of which 308,000 tonnes was poultry meat. For the same year the egg production was 5,927 million.

Poultry meat is more common in Sindh due to poultry meat have less fat than beef or mutton we observe that. The size of egg and chicken will improve if light is provided in the sheds at the night time. Poultry waste have advantage that each 50 kg bag of dry material from digested effluent will be worth Rs.50,000 in term of nitrogen, phosphate and potash, assuming the present rates of fertiliser. These fertilisers become chelated and crops give much higher response to them than ordinary mannures and fertilisers.

Our experience show that the four factors are the basic requirement of poultry farming these are

Floor space, feeder space, fountain (water space) fresh air space. The floor space requirement during brooding (First to 6 weeks), floor space requirement for adult birds (egg and meat type), floor space requirement for adult birds (breeder type), feeder space for adult birds, water space during brooding, water space for adult bird.

Conclusion.

In order to get good profit from poultry one must have good knowledge of poultry farming, better management skill. Know the balance diets for birds are able to take quick stand in case of diseases prevention and control.

We observe various constraints in meat and egg production in Pakistan these are:

High rate of mortality due to contagious diseases and other diseases:
Lack of disease diagnostic facilities.
Deficient managerial and feeding practice.
Lack of availability of better productive stock.
Lack of trained staff in poultry husbandry.

The other drawback of poultry industry in Pakistan are:

High cost, low standard of commercial feed, poor management, poor housing facilities, high rate of infection and diseases, high rate of mortality due to lack of diagnostic laboratories, shortage of qualified veterinaries and high price of feed.

Some important aspect of poultry are as under:

Poultry feed.

Poultry is the most efficient converter of inedible proteins into edible. It converts 2.5 Ibs of feed in to one Ib of chicken and 2.46 Ibs of feed into one Ib of egg.

Chicken food consist of cereals (coarse grains), plant protein source, animal protein source, agro-based industrial by-products, vitamins, minerals, antibiotics, maize, sorghum, broken rice, fish meal, meat meal, blood meal, decorticated cotton seed meal, til cake, toria cake, corn gluten meal, guar meal, ground-nut cake, sun flower cake and soybean meal.

Poultry feed is composed of carbohydrates, protein, fat, minerals and vitamins, about 40 different types of raw materials are also used in preparing the feed. Coccidiostats antioxidants, antibiotic, vitamins and minerals are needed to included in the diet. Dehydrated lucern improve the quality of meat and egg in case of poultry.

Infection and diseases in poultry.

After contamination the organisms may enter the egg by one of the three ways:-

a) Drawn through the shell pores during periods of temperature differential.
b) Penetrate due to the mortality of the organisms.
c) Penetrate defective shells.

Disease of poultry.

These are mareck 's disease, Newcastle disease (Rani khet), coccidiosis, leucosis, salmonellosis and fowl pox while less important disease are: bronchitis, laryngiotracheitis and avian encephalomyelitis, spirochaetosis, mareck 's disease and fowl cholera.

In Pakistan three strains of Newcastle disease are used these are:

a) Newcastle disease virus (living) Lasota strain.

b) Newcastle disease virus (living) Mukteswar strain.

c) Newcastle disease virus (living) Komarov strain.

The vaccine prepared from all these strains contain live viruses of chick embryo origin in lyophilised form sealed under vacuum.

Medicine used in poultry.

These are as under:

Phenothiazine powder: It removes stomach worms, tapeworms, Hook worms and Nodular worms in poultry.

Oxytetracycline HCl injection: 100mg/ml PV.P and 50mg/ml. Pneumonia C.R.D.H.HS Anthrax, infections enteritis, Ricketsial, spirochaetosis and other infections in poultry.

Sulphadimidine sodium injection: It controls bacterial, viral, Ricketisal and Protozoan diseases in poultry.

Eg-grow granule feed: Deficiency of calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D, low egg production, soft shell eggs in poultry.

Furazolidone 5% to 20%: Salmonellosis, pullorum, fowl typhoid, block head, infectious coryza, early chick mortility.

Polyzol: (Thiasolucin solution 45%) for the treatment of infectious colds, coryza and cholera in poultry.

Polymycine powder: (Antibiotic feed supplement) Bacterial infections and early chick mortality, to maintain vigour, health and production in poultry.

Rasovit powder: (vitaminized feed supplement) vitamin deficiencies, stress, extra energy, growth and egg production in poultry.

Pick-NOL: Antipicking paste, antivice preparation to check picking, biting and cannibalism antiseptic for wounds.

E.Coli infections is controlled by Doxycycline at the rate of 2mg/litre of drinking water for 3-5 days.

In order to reduce the infection and diseases the extension worker can play a role so the work of extension should be as under.

a) To raise poultry productivity by dissemination of useful and practical information relating to poultry industry.
b) To raise the standard of living of farmers by the practical application of such knowledge to farm and home situation.
c) Farmer should be trained to provide proper feed, sanitation and correct doses of vaccination.
d) Steps are being taken for the supply of medicine, mass vaccination and treatment of poultry birds against major epidemic diseases in the country.

In order to bring poultry Farming into highly profitable business.

Future research is needed in the following points.

Develop breeding farm.
Economical hatchery development.
Better feeding mill.
Good nutritional feeding formula.
Develop broiler farm.
Good freezing and cold storage facilities.
Hygienic packing conditions.
Proper control over disease and infections.
Provide balanced and nutritive diet.

In future we have to popularise processing system which consist of following parts:

Automatic supply system.
Killing and de-feathering.
Evisceration systems.
Chilling system for air and water chill.
Electronic weighing and grading lines.
Packing lines.
Automatic portioning equipment and lines.
Automatic breast filleters.
Automatic re-hang of products to other processing lines.
Vacuum offal transport systems.

In future.

We need to:

Strengthening the poultry extension service and poultry husbandry techniques.
Mass vaccination to birds in village against contagious diseases also render treatment, disease diagnostic facilities.
Supply better breeds for multiplication and cross-breeding.
Strengthening training facilities on different aspects of poultry farming.

Conclusion.

We have to improve feed, introduce new techniques for marketing, provide better living conditions, better facilities for cold storage of meat, to develop cheap feeding formula and better planning for poultry industry include feed, market, climate and infrastructure.

Chiku or Sapodilla The Neglected Fruit of Sindh

Sapodilla's rank.

With some 85% as edible portion, it ranks among the top performers of high pulp ratio fruits, but it lacks the position it deserves, due to inadequate research and support.

It originates from tropical South America and was spread by the Portuguese in the tropics of the Old World.

Popenoe an early American horticulturist in 1920, gives two quotations of his predecessors; Thomas Firminger an English man who lived in India called it; "a more luscious, cool and agreeable fruit, not to be met with in any other part of the world" and French botanist Michel Etienn Descourtilz considered it; "the sweet perfumes of honey, jasmine and lily of the valley".

The Portuguese established in South India. It is not certain when it came to Sindh. It may have been introduced when Sindh was part of Bombay Presidency and came from there with the immigrant Marhata Gujarati community or it was already here brought by Goa's Portugese Catholics, who established a church on Liari in the present Gulshan-e-Iqbal in 1818 under licence from Mir Karam Ali Khan Talpur, who granted them land and permission to establish a church, to get Portuguese support for guns etc., against the British advances in India.

Post Independence brought it in Lower Sindh south of line running east to west from Hala to Shahdadpur and to best luck of young trees, there have been no frosts in recent years.

The severity of frostily winter has been counter-acted by almost perennial irrigation in Kotri and Sukkur Barrage Commands. As a mature tree it can stand frosts upto -2�C.

Since it can stand high water table, flooding for short time, high humidity, dry weather and even a couple of degree of frost when tree matures, it can very easily be a fruit tree next in importance to mango, only if its post-harvest life is improved.

In absence of post-harvest technology there is seasonal glut prices come down and farmers get poor returns.

No attempt has been made to squeeze its harvest within short period and either early or late. Due to short post-harvest life its export potential has been very limited even in local markets of Pakistan.

Once efforts to increase its post-harvest life by 10-14 days become possible, it will be the time to improve agronomical practices due to new incentives of prices, which wo9uld come automatically.

Agronomical improvements needed.

It has to be planted on its own root stock instead of Khirol (Mimusops Kauki L.) root stock and, budded instead of approach grafted. Though Khirol gives it dwarfness and early first fruiting, but the method of propagation is slow, cumbersome and costly.

Layering or marcotting can produce first fruit in year three, but technique needs to be mastered in Pakistan.

Grafted varieties take 6-10 years to fruit.

Marcotts can fruit in year 3, but layers and marcotts need 9 months to root.

They produce two crops a year, but the mid summer flowers are damaged by insects and only vigorous protection programmes can over come the problems.

Future improvement needed to raise status of sapodilla.

Dwarf tree.

High density planting at 6x6 meters or i.e., 108 trees/acre.

Limited pruning for size control.

Control over flower eating larvae, twig borers, scales, aphids, mealy bugs and fruit flies.

Control over damage by bats.

Yield of 10 tons per acre per year are common, though 30 tons have been reported from South India, if agronomical practices are improved.

Introducing new cultivars from other countries and testing them.

Varieties.

There are only two varieties in South-Asia, the ball shaped and the egg shaped. The latter is sweeter with firmer flesh and better keeping quality.

Ball-shaped were propagated from Karachi in the Lower Sindh some 30 years ago when there was shortage of mother plants to produce approach grafts.

India has made some new selections from open pollination but have not been popularised.

Hybridisation has not produced any cultivars in India.

Some new selections from South America have proved to be better but they have not been introduced in South Asia.

Some of these varieties yield 150 kg per tree per year even in home gardens, where they usually are neglected. Under field conditions they can produce at least double this yield.

Some ball shaped fruits have gritty taste and may be avoided.

Chicku collections now exist in South East Asia, brazil and other Latin American countries and some good selections have been named as; Krasuey, Kai Hann, Markok, Sawo, Brown Sugar, H.C. Tan, Tropical, BKD-110, Oval, Belawi, Sawo, Kulon, Appel Bener, Appel Linn, Mead and Modell. They have not been introduced in South Asia.

We have seen last 6 varieties. Their fruit is bigger than ours being 3 to 4 inches diameter and round to egg shaped.

Problems in shipping and marketing.

Besides poor post-harvest life, soft fruit cannot be bulk shipped in large crates over long distances.

The crates have to be single layer packed for good results. With two crops a year, there is no reason for its availability year around.

Packages similar to those for Kiwi, should easily promote its trade to Europe.

With refrigerated transport from packing to marketing, it is possible to extend its life from 12 to 20 days.

Post-harvest.

It can easily be damaged by abrasion and impact and care is needed in harvesting it.

It must be harvested by knives with small stalk that fruit is not pressed during pulling and stalk does not emit latex.

Stalk must be removed from fruit under water to avoid latex sticking to fruit and developing surface spots and fungal entry.

Mature fruit ripens in 3-7 days at 25�C and only proper cooling before or after ripening it, can increase its post-harvest life.

Ripened fruit can be stored at low temperature for about 14 days. This means in the whole market chain, fruit should be cold stored. Storing at low temperature will cause chilly injury.

Storage temperature is the critical factor in the whole marketing chain.

Unripe fruit can also be cold stored for 2 weeks before allowing it to ripen at 25�C in 3 days.

Harvesting immature fruit leads to shrivelling, low sugar and poor taste.

Uses.

It is used mostly as desert fruit, but in its countries of origin it is converted into sweet sherbet due to 14% sugar content.

It produces gummy latex (15% rubber and 38% resin) in its bark, known as chicle which is major ingredient in chewing gum.

Chilled fruit can be cut in halves and eaten with spoon as an exotic dish.

It can be dried but process has to eliminate fungus to make it safe to eat.

It can be processed into jams, sherbets and yoghurt.

Other Sapotaceous family fruits.

The sapotaceous family has some excellent fruit trees which can also grow in Sindh but no attempt has been made to introduce them.

The family includes, sapote (fruit similar to Chicku but 3-6 inches long).

Its other relative Green sapote may not be mistaken for sapote as it will not thrive in hot low lands of land and needs elevation of 3000-7000 feet in tropics.

Canito or Camito another Chcku relative also called star apple suits climate of Karachi, Thatta and Badin districts.

Canistel (Lucuma) another fruit of the family can grow in Southern Sindh.

Yellow Sapote having 4-8 inches long fruit has very large fruit and suits lower Sindh climate.

No attempt has been made to introduce them in Sindh.

The Characteristics Of Rabbit Farming

Abstract

Rabbit meat is versatile, there are many ways of serving it. It can be raised without the use of drugs, growth-stimulants, such as anabolic steroids, which are given to farm animals for rapid growth. Rabbit crop becomes ready in 9-10 weeks.They can be given feed pellets or left on household scraps and green food. Rabbit meat is lean, with little fat, little waste, with high meat to bone ratio, and low cholesterol level. They are small, easy to handle, usually docile, mature very quickly and require small garden. The rabbits is economically cheap protein producer. People make production of worms for fishermen from rabbit manure. All breeds of rabbit produce fur. The hair of Rex rabbit is only half an inch long; it is dense, soft and silky. They need cleaning once or twice a week. Rabbit urine has a strong smell and their from they need cleaning at least every week. Killing and dressing rabbits for the table is an easily acquired skill. It lives in warm dry climate. Rabbit escaped from the enclosures and became wild. Silver-haired rabbit is used for fur production. Grey rabbit is used for hats. In an emergency with real shortage of food so rabbits are used for this purpose as was done in the World War-II in Europe. Rabbit feed pellets are based on concentrated food. Hybrids between various breed of rabbits are developed based on size of carcass, speed of growth, size of litter produced.

Conclusion

Rabbit is a good source of protein and fast growing with virtually no spending on food and cure, and it is a beautiful addition in the backyard for children 's play its fur also used for making fur coat, hats, gloves and hand bags and its manure use as fertiliser.

Life styles and their characteristics

Rabbits are not true rodents. They have very powerful teeth. Tame rabbits especially in-bred once, are some times born with the teeth badly aligned. This is called malocclusion. It can be seen at about eight weeks of age. It is a genetic fault and should be traced and eradicated that is, animals which had it, are not bred to transmit it on to their off springs.

Rabbit have good large eyes and able to see at night. The ears are mobile and independent, like radar scanners. The blood vessels in the outer ear also help to regulate the body heat.

They communicate by scent. There is a gland under the chin which produces droplets ofscent into it to mark their terribry. In adult rabbit the respiration is 45 per minutes when resting, but its rate increase in young as well as when rabbit is under stress.

The rabbit have seven day mating cycle. In seven day interval correct hormones releasing the follicle from the ovary is only produced as results of stimulation, usually the presence of the buck. In autumn and winter and is marked by disappearance of the testicles in male and therefore winter production becomes a problem. A month after mating the doe takes nest with soft hay and she plucks fur from her underside to line the nest. This helps to expose her teats, which are normally lost in the fur. Tame does make a nest in the hutch they like quiet dark place. The young are usually fed only once a day, baby teeth develop after a week, which are replaced by permanent teeth. Doe need good food to produce milk for the babies, which is rich in protein 12-14% compare with cow milk.

The false pregnancy chances are reduced when doe is re-mated while still suckling her previous litter. Before breeding lot of fighting take place to who become the boss.

Myxomatosis disease harm to rabbit keeping. The spilopsyllus cuniculi, from dead rabbit to healthy one. There are various breeds of rabbits like: New Zealand white; new Zealand Red; Dutch; Californian; Rex; Flemish Giant; Bevexen; Havana; Rhinitis and pneumonia are also common.

Rabbit way of living

The best time are eight to ten weeks of age, when one purchase and put them in backyard. At the age of four to five months, they are ready for breeding.

Some people used hutches with wire floors and underneath a tray to catch the droppings. New born rabbits chill and die if they are not protected in the nest. It is very important to keep rabbits dry and snug, with no droughts in the sleeping quarters. The outdoor hutches need to be protected from the weather so the roof should have projecting caves at front and back to keep off the rain, should be weather proof. The hutches should have front, which is partly netting, partly solid wood so that the rabbit can shelter behind the solid part if they wish. Rabbits live healtheri outside because indoor rabbit keeping have a problem with ammonia in the urine need proper ventilation lighting and airing. A doe and litter will need 8 square feet, 4x2 feet, or more for the large breeds. The tiilet consist of a wired-covered hole in the floor, under which a plastic box is used to catch the effluent.

Rabbits needs a lot of water a especially milking does and in hot weather.

Rabbit feed

Rabbits are herbivorous eat most green food, grain and roots. Adult rabbit will eat about four ounces a day, this food is eight ou7nces for doe with young.

a) Carbohydrates:- Provides energy for their work, rabbit can balance their own ration when they can. They will eat more food if it is low in energy and less if it is high-if they are given the choice, but high energy diet could reduce the intake as a result the deficiency of other constituents.

b) Proteins:- Rabbit food must contain 187% protein, protein is required to build the tissue but the pregnant doe need extra protein to produce her litter. Some people give soaked dried peas. Hay and alfalfa is equally good source of protein.

c) Fibre:- Wild rabbit eat more fibre but lot of fibre improve digestion. Young rabbit require less fibre than the grown-up. Adult rabbit food must contain 25% fibre.

d) Minerals:- Rabbit food must contains all the minerals except cobalt. e) Vitamins:- The last part of rabbit intestine contain Bacteria which produce vitamin B-complex and vitamin-C. Vitamins A, D and E must be needed in the diet.

It is advisable to fed mash in the morning and green food it night. Mash supplied carbohydrates and proteins.

f) it is important the rabbit should not over fed so it is easier to regulate the diet if you feed them twice a day. Fermented and sour food is very bad for rabbit. It pellet food used it increases their weight 3 ounces/day. The food for adult rabbit is made on the basis of they eat portion of mash about the size of tangerine. This can be made from stable bread, porridge (oats are goods) or boiled potato peelings, any thing like that moistened then dried off with bran, they can also take stale bread.

g) The useful wild plants includes young trees, leaves and shoots. Clovers and vetches are legumes but their seeds are poisonous. The useful wild plants are:- coltsfoot, comfrey, chickweed, cow parsley, Docks, Sorret (sour dock), Dan delion, Fat hen, Groundsel, heather, Ivy, Plantain, Shepherds Purse, Sow Thistle, Water cress, Bind weed, Celandine, Foxglove, Wild irs, Fool 's Parsley, Henbane, Po , lettuce.

h) Potato, rhubarb tops and pea haulm are harmless. And chemical sprays and weedicides are dangerious for animals and human.

Growing crops for rabbits

In winter months the wild plants most of them in resting period. We can grow vegetables, shrubs and flowers for the whole season supply.

Rabbit feed: It consist of following things:

Curly Kale, Cabbage, Fodder, beet root, Sunflower, Seed, Mangold, Comfrey, Dendelion, Chicory, Artichoke, leaves, peapod, Kohl Rabi, Kale, Lucerne, Sugar beet, Swedes, herbs.

Breeding

It can be done:

a) Cross breeding:- In which parents of different breeds they cross b reed and produce �hybrid-vigour '. This method mostly used to improve meat.

b) Pure breeding:- Is used two unrelated animals of the same breed. Thisd is mostly used for further breeding.

c) Line breeding:- In this method they use good buck and good doe, this should be tried because all the bad points intensified. d) In breeding:- In which breed line together of related animals to concentrated the genes that are predictable and all alike.

In rabbits you take doe to the buck 's pen for mating. The gestation period is 31 days but it can be 4 days on either side of this. During this period she need good feeding. Commercial doe will only last 1 _ to 2 years, but the boilogically rabbit life is 9 years. Artificial insemination some times used but it is not common.

Health

Rabbit needs warm dry bed, and varieties of fresh natural foods. The common diseases of rabbits are as under:

a) Scouring:- Bad diarrhoea can kill a rabbit. The cure could be hay and water plenty of dry bedding and handful of blackberry leaves. Astringent or binding plants like burnet, plantation, clevers. Parnips is also good.

b) Constipation:- Dandelion, groundsel and fresh young rass is good laxative. Castor oil, one teaspoonful for adult rabbits and half for young once.

c) Parasities:- Parasities can be transferred from neighbour cat or dog cagge to rabbits.

d) Tapeworm:- The wild garlic is good solution.

e) Fleas:- Flea can carry the virus of myxomatosis. A dusting of insect power or little sump oil is a solution

f) Canker:- Canker is contagious so it need a well clean and disinfect thehutch. This is caused by mite, it attack on ear of rabbit. The solution is benzyl benzoate at about 5 days interval or Otodex.

g) Sores:- Sores are usually found on hocks due to wet bedding or floors. Some times wire cagges also result to this. While clover should be given in feed.

h) Sneezing and cold:- Dust hay caused it. Garlic and onion is the solution.

i) Coceidiosis:- There are two types intestinal and hepatic. Intestinal coccidosis is caused by the organism Eimeria performa and Eimeria Magna and is transferred through droppings. Liver coccidiosis is caused by Elimeria Steidae the cure is garlic also fumigation by cayenne pepper burning which kill the residues of poison.

j) Enteritis:- Animals on high pressure, fast growth diet are more prone to this disease. Dry bed a little milk and hay is the treatment or herb comfrey.

k) Dystokia:- It is the name of difficult kind ling.

l) Claw clipping:- This happen when rabbit can not use his claws normally.

Harvesting the wild rabbits

Dogs are used to catch the rabbits alive, while other methods used are: snares; trapping, netting, ferretting and shooting.

Meat protein is only 20-21%. Rabbit meat varies according to breed like - Havana, Sable and Ermine rex.

Rabbit meat uses

These are:- Roasting, rabbit pate, rabbit pudding, rabbit pie, boiled rabbit, curried rabbit, fried rabbit.

Skin dressing by the use of solution 5 litres of water add 60g salts, 30g potash alum, 1g soda ash per litre. Skin is soaked for 1-2 days than drained. Then put in the spin dryer for short time. This way skin of the rabbit can be cured as used as hat, gloves and bags making.

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Revised January 29, 2004

Published by City Farmer Canada's Office of Urban Agriculture cityfarmer@gmail.com