Summary

The cultivation of insects can have a significant contribution in making agriculture more sustainable. In the current food production chain, many organic residues are released. Insects can convert them into new nutrients to feed animals and plants, thus creating a closed production cycle. 

An EIP-AGRI Operational Group converted a disused building into a test facility. There it researches the valorisation of organic residues from land-based agriculture with the use of insects. The larvae of Black Soldier Flies (BSF) are used as an "intermediary" to convert low-value nutrients from the organic residues into high-quality proteins and fats, which will serve as food for fish farming  - and in a subsequent stage also for chickens and pigs. The excretions of the fish are in turn used for fertilizing vegetables that are grown under controlled conditions (also called aquaponics).

Results

An agricultural building in disuse has been repurposed to host the insect breeding facility. 

This process will minimise the transportation costs for removing whey from the dairy farms. 

Great interest is already experienced from farmers who follow up the project to learn about insect farming and aquaponics.