Genetic Improvement of Rabbits and It's Limitations in Southern Benin

Abstract

Background: The rabbit farming industry is characterized by the predominance of local rabbit breeds. Significant endeavours have been undertaken to enhance the genetic quality of these breeds through selection programs, yielding substantial advancements in the area that have subsequently been disseminated to various rabbit farming communities. Aims: The study aims to identify the constraints and limits to the genetic improvement of rabbits in Benin. Methodology: The study was conducted with 80 rabbit breeders in the Departments of Ouémé, Mono, Couffo, Atlantique and Littoral in southern Benin during January to July 2022. The farmers were questioned about their identity, the methods they employed in farming, the genetic improvement techniques they utilized on their farms, and the constraints associated with these techniques. The collected data were analyzed with SAS software (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA) and R Version 4.0.2. The MCA function of R's Facto MineR library was used for multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). For quantitative variables, an analysis of variance was performed using the PROC GLM procedure in SAS, and the only variation factor considered in the model was the effect of the breeding group. The Fisher test was used to determine the significance of this effect, and comparisons between group means were made in pairs using the Student's t test.  Results: The first group consists of farmers who use selection as a genetic improvement method. Group 2 consists of farmers who use both selection and crossbreeding, and group 3 consists of farmers who use crossbreeding. The problems affecting the genetic improvement of breeds were difficulties in obtaining pure breeds, as well as financial, technical and sanitary difficulties. The low availability of pure breeds was mentioned more often in group 1 than in group 2. Health problems were mentioned more often in group 2 than in group 1. Even if farmers declared that they were making progress, the lack of performance recording, the lack of performance monitoring and the non-synchronisation of efforts make improvements less perceptible on the ground. Conclusion: To remedy these shortcomings, it would be necessary to encourage the emergence of selection breeding to supply pure-bred animals to breeders and to seek solutions to the problems faced by farmers.