THE PROJECT PROPOSAL TITLE; DETERMINING VARIOUS ASPECTS OF DOMESTICATING WILD RABBIT FORAGES PRESENTED BY; OKENGÓ MAURICE.J. REG. NUMBER A22/0051/2009 Bsc. AGRICULTURE, CROP SCIENCE MAJOR SUPERVISED BY; DR. NJOROGE KIARIE DATE;12 TH APRIL 2013

INTRODUCTION There is need to increase food security in the country. Food production for many years has faced many challenges and consequently food prices have been escalating each day making it difficult for the majority of the Kenyan population to access essential nutrition especial the animal protein. In the recent past, most of the studies conducted in the country have pointed out the positive remedy to this crisis through rabbit meat production. The studies show a remarkable success and high potential in this sector. For a long time, rabbit keeping was seen as an activity for young boys who kept them as a hobby (MOLD, 2004). Rabbit production is gaining popularity throughout Kenya as an as an economic undertaking. this new hope could only be constrained by insufficient and unsustainable of the rabbit feed supply base. There is need to increase food security in the country. Food production for many years has faced many challenges and consequently food prices have been escalating each day making it difficult for the majority of the Kenyan population to access essential nutrition especial the animal protein. In the recent past, most of the studies conducted in the country have pointed out the positive remedy to this crisis through rabbit meat production. The studies show a remarkable success and high potential in this sector. For a long time, rabbit keeping was seen as an activity for young boys who kept them as a hobby (MOLD, 2004). Rabbit production is gaining popularity throughout Kenya as an as an economic undertaking. this new hope could only be constrained by insufficient and unsustainable of the rabbit feed supply base.

INTRO…  According to a baseline survey study by Wanyoike et al. (2012), the most common feeding system used by rabbit farmers was a combination of forages and commercial feeds.  Gebremedhin (1991) argues that rabbit enterprises may provide economic opportunities for farm families who have limited land and capital. Other reasons include; the rabbit’s proverbial prolificacy, early maturity, fast growth rate, high genetic selection potential, high feed conversion efficiency and economic utilization of space (Lukefahr and Cheek, 1990). Feeding system % Commercial + forages/weeds forages/weeds only Homemade concentrates + forages 1.10 Homemade concentrates 1 Commercial concentrates 2.4

PROBLEM STATEMENT AND JUSTIFICATION PROBLEM STATEMENT AND JUSTIFICATION  There is need to increase the wild rabbit forages that can eventually be conserved to ensure constant and sustainable supply of rabbit feeds. This will simultaneously contribute positively into the value chain of rabbit meat production  solving the problem of feed inadequacy will spun the production of the rabbit production to large scale and allow for the commercialisation of the feed handling, which in return could expand rabbit rearing.  The problem of feed inadequacy of these wild forages is unavoidable because most of the areas in Kenya are affected by dry spell for a better part of the year which limits establishment of sufficient feeds. Also as part of the cultural cultivations the wild rabbit forages is eliminated as weed. Domestication of these forages thereby will tackle the problem of feed insufficiency by increasing the feed base supply.

HYPOTHESIS AND OBJECTIVES HYPOTHESIS HYPOTHESIS The better performance of the weeds under the domestication condition is positively linked to the improved soil nutrients and good agricultural practises. BROAD OBJECTIVES BROAD OBJECTIVES Increasing feed supply to rabbits through domestication of wild rabbit forages deemed as weeds. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES  To determine dry matter on various rabbit forage feeds subjected to different production levels of agronomic practice.  To establish the performance of the rabbit forages under limited competition.  To determine the proficiency of enriched soil in the growth of the wild forages.  To determine the germinability of various rabbit forages.

METHODOLOGY METHODOLOGY  3.1 Materials and requirements  Black jack seeds  Common Sowthistle seeds  Wooden pegs  Meter rule  Gallant soldier seeds  Phosphate (D.A.P)  Nitrate (C.A.N)  Pesticide (duduthrin)  Tape measure  8.5m by 5.5m research plot.

EXPERIMENT EXPERIMENT Treatments;  1. Treatment1 ……… the control.  2. Treatment2 ……….weeding only.  3. Treatment3 ……..weeding + pesticide only.  4. Treatment4 ………..weeding +pesticide + fertilizer. The experiment will be on 24 small plot divided into three blocks each with different forage. Each block has 4 treatment all replicated twice. Land preparation and planting done before the onset of the rain. After a period of 5-6 weeks the plant are harvested to measure the weight of randomly selected plants, these are used to obtain the average mean from each plot.

WORKPLAN AND SCHEDULE ACTIVITY DATE (2013) Land preparation 10 th January Seed collection February Seedbed preparation February Planting 12 th march Germination data 30 th march Top dressing April Data recording 30 th march - may Data analysis may Report submission may

REFERENCES  Wanyoike, M. ; BASELINE SURVEY REPORT “Project: Strategies to Promote Rabbit Value Chain in Kenya”.  Widderick, M 2002 ;WEED 5;COMMON SOWTHISTLE  Blackjack production guideline; Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA  Widderick, M 2002; Management of common sowthistle.  G. J. H. Grubben 1996 Plant Resources of Tropical Africa: Vegetables (PROTA 2).  Soyebo K.O. (2006) Constraints Against Widespread of Rabbit Keeping among Households in Osun and Oyo States: Implication for Family Economic Empowerment, Journal of Applied Sciences Research  Vietmeyer, N. D Potentials of micro livestock in developing countries. J. Appl. Rabbit Res. 8:10.  Ministry of Livestock Development (2004). Annual Report, Department of Livestock Production. Nairobi: Ministry of Livestock.  McNitt, J. I., Patton, N. M., Lukefahr, S. D. and Cheeke, P. R Rabbit Production. 8th ed. Interstate Printers and Publishers, Danville, I  Lukefahr, S. D. (1998). Rabbit production in Uganda: Potential versus opportunity. World Rabbit Science, 6(3-4).  Gebremedhin T.G. (1991) The economics of small-scale rabbit production, American Journal of Alternative Agriculture (1991), 6 : pp  Widderick, M. (2002). Common Sowthistle – Understanding its Ecology is the Key to Better Management. Extension Brochure, Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.  Cheeke P. R. (1986) Potentials of rabbit production in tropical and subtropical agricultural systems. Journal of Animal Science. Volume 63:  Yono C, Raharj C, Cheeke PR and Patton NM (1986). Growth and reproductive performance of rabbits on a moderately low crude protein diet with or without methionine or urea supplementation. Journal of Animal Science 63:

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