In some minds, the only thing worse than a bug is the poop that comes out of it.
However, disgusting as it might seem, bug droppings are testing out very well as an excellent fertilizer for farm and garden soil. And ground-up bugs themselves are proving to be a potentially useful food for animals.
The findings fuel the idea of “bug farming,” in which insects are purposely raised, fed waste vegetation, and used as new and sustainable sources of fertilizer and animal feed.
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service and the University of Arkansas say that “frass” from yellow mealworms, banded crickets, and black soldier flies turns out to be higher in carbon and nitrogen than fossil-fuel-based fertilizers and has fewer disease-causing pathogens than manure fertilizers.
Insect frass is a mixture of poop, uneaten/leftover insect food, and molted skins.
In a two-year field study, the researchers found that mealworm frass produced crop yields and carbon dioxide emission rates similar to soils amended with poultry litter and ammonium nitrate.
“Insect frass substantially improved soil fertility, which showed its ability to be used as an alternative to inorganic fertilizers,” said Amanda Ashworth, a soil scientist at the ARS research facility in Fayetteville, Ark.
ARS scientist Ann Donoghue, research leader for a team that’s investigating insect “meal” as a sustainable animal-food source, says the same three bugs are rich in protein and promising as an inexpensive ingredient for farm-animal and pet food.
She says studies also have shown that a diet with insect meal boosted disease immunity in chickens.
Insect meal results from dried and ground insects that have been mass-reared in controlled environments.
Researchers say the findings give merit to a burgeoning new industry known as raising “mini-livestock,” i.e. bug farming.
According to Meticulous Research’s “Global Edible Insects Market Forecast to 2030″ report, the bug-farming industry is growing due to increased demands for sustainable protein sources for animal feed.
The industry is projected to grow 28 percent annually and have an estimated market value of $8 billion by 2030.
Ashworth says the idea is an example of a “circular agricultural system” in which a by-product can be recycled back into production, creating a more sustainable way to grow food.
She adds that some 2,000 bug species are potentially useful for either fertilizer or as a feed ingredient.
Read more on insect meal’s use at ARS’s website.
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