Environmental impact of rabbit meat: The effect of production efficiency. (November 2018) - Cesari, V.
Abstract: The aim of this trial was to analyse the environmental impact of the rabbit production system, through a cradle to-slaughterhouse gate using a life cycle approach. Since in a rabbit farm the production efficiency depends on the feed conversion and quantity of meat produced, scenarios characterized by different slaughter weights and dissimilar level of mortality during the fattening phase were hypothesized. Climate change determined in the standard rabbit resulted in 3.86 kg CO2 eq/kg live weight, slightly higher than that of broilers and not different from that of pork. High and Low mortality scenarios resulted in impact changes from +5.22 and −2.31%, respectively, compared with the standard system. An increase of environmental impact values (up to 36%) was registered when live weight enhanced from 2.7 to 2.9 kg for standard and heavy rabbits. The results obtained underline the strict link between the ability to convert feed into meat and the environmental sustainability of meat production also in the rabbit system. Highlights: Feed efficiency is a key indicator by which to predict environmental sustainability Sustainability of the rabbit meat was assessed using the Life Cycle approach Four different production system scenarios were evaluated Carcass weight as functional unit increased the values by 49.1% High mortality and slaughter weight can increase environmental impact