The Mediterranean Rabbit Group is a working group created in the eighties, supported by the International Centre for Advanced mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), through its Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza, in coordination with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and whose objectives are the study and characterization of Mediterranean autochthonous populations, the selection and dissemination of selected lines throughout the Mediterranean Region for productivity and adaptation to the environmental conditions of the region, and the identification and solution of problems which are specific to Mediterranean rabbit production. Given the limited available evaluation reports on local rabbit breed characterizations, production variables, crossbred performances, and environmental factors, the Mediterranean Rabbit Group has undertaken the task to develop standardized descriptors for breed/strain characterizations of rabbits in Mediterranean countries. |