Abstract
The present survey evaluates production, research funds and scientific activity relating to rabbits in Italy, Europe and all over the world during the last 20 years. Official statistics have several weaknesses for a small and diversified production like that of rabbits. Different methods for collecting and providing data in the different countries can be used and data for backyard production can miss. According to FAO, in 2017, China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea contributed 73.3% to the global volume of rabbit meat. The two main EU producing countries, Spain and France, lost 12.2 and 6.4%, respectively, of their former share of world production compared to 1998. Whilst Italy is self-sufficient in rabbit meat production, trade exchanges are low, and meat consumption is decreasing. In regards to research funding, based on collected information which can be not fully comprehensive, China stands in the top position and Italy is placed fourth after France and Germany. Italy, France and Spain are among the top-five publishing countries and ‘World Rabbit Science’ is among the top publishing scientific journal in Agricultural and Biological Sciences (ABS). In the case of Veterinary Sciences, ‘Veterinary Record’ is one of the top journals. In Italy, ABS publications mainly focussed on Meat quality, Nutrition and feeding and Ethology and welfare. Pathology and hygiene and Breeding and genetics were the most published topics in Veterinary Science. The Universities of Napoli, Milano, Bari, Padova, Pisa, Perugia and Bologna provide teaching in rabbit science and production within their educational offer.HighlightsItalian funds for research in rabbit science are minimal and mainly provided by the Italian Ministry of Health;Italian researchers in rabbit science are very active in publications through peer-reviewed international scientific journals;Italian research activity is focussed on Meat quality, Nutrition and feeding, and to a lesser extent Breeding and genetics and Welfare and ethology.
Highlights
Until the 1960s in Italy, rabbit breeding was a minor industry and mainly intended to meet the basic needs of rural families
In order to evaluate changes in the Italian rabbit sector over the last 20 years and to examine whether the sector can rely on solid scientific support, this article shows the evolution of production of rabbit meat, the research funding and outputs in rabbit science and, the teaching activities of the Italian Universities addressing rabbit science
FAO estimates of rabbit production are the starting point for any evaluation at a world level, despite data are missing for some countries or appear overestimated for other ones
Summary
Until the 1960s in Italy, rabbit breeding was a minor industry and mainly intended to meet the basic needs of rural families. After a strong development around the 1980s, rabbit breeding became intensive. This development was favoured by the excellent quality of rabbit meat, rich in protein and low in fat and cholesterol. The Italian rabbit breeding industry was characterised, compared to the European industry, by high production efficiency expressed both in terms of efficient work productivity and feeding costs (Corrent 2001)
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