At a seminar on breeding New Zealand rabbit heldin northern Ninh Binh province on Mar. 9, Giao said that raising rabbitsrequires little capital, so it is suitable for poor households.
Giaosaid it is necessary to hold a promotion campaign to inform peopleabout rabbit meat, which has high protein and low cholesterol.
Atpresent, about 4 million rabbits are being raised in Vietnam withan output of 2,500-2,600 tonnes of meat. However, the rabbit meat ismainly consumed in hotels and restaurants.
In 2007, JapaneseNippon Zoki company built an establishment to raise New Zealandrabbit in Son Ha commune, Nho Quan district, Ninh Binh province. Theestablishment has a capacity of 10,000 rabbits and a processing chainand meets veterinary and food safety standards.
New Zealand rabbit grows quickly, provides a high volume of meat, and is also used in medical research.
Thedepartment plans for the country to have 7 million rabbits with a meatoutput of 14,000 tonnes by 2015 and 10 million rabbits with 20,000tonnes of meat by 2020.-VNA