Cultivating black soldier fly larvae to produce chicken feed and organic fertilizer

Types of food materials: Tofu dreg, pineapple peel, cassava pulp
Product obtained from research: Feed for raising black soldier fly larvae, chicken feed from black soldier fly larvae, and organic fertilizer from leftovers from raising black soldier fly larvae

The black soldier fly has the ability to convert agricultural residues and wastes into an efficient and environmentally friendly protein source for animals. Additionally, the residues from black soldier fly farming can be used as organic fertilizer for plants. This research, therefore, tofu dreg, pineapple peel, cassava pulp, and chicken manures were mixed with chicken feed to feed the black soldier fly larvae to study the characteristics of the black soldier fly of different food sources. Then, the black soldier fly larvae were mixed with chicken feed to feed the chickens. The remains from raising the black soldier fly (food and droppings) are used to make organic fertilizer for sweet corn.

The results showed that the black soldier fly larvae fed with the chicken feed mixed with tofu dreg had higher protein and fat values than those mixed with cassava pulp, pineapple peel, and chicken droppings. The dry larvae are biologically safe and passed the standard criteria for controlling the number of microorganisms in animal feed (less than 8×10⁶ CFU/g). When tested in layer chickens, it was found that the digestibility of amino acids in the larvae fed the mixture of chicken feed tofu dreg was higher than the other mixtures. In addition, adding black soldier fly larvae in the feed of layer chickens at levels of 4, 8, and 12 percent increased the color of egg yolk without affecting production performance.

For the utilization of waste (food and droppings) from the black soldier fly farming to produce organic fertilizer, the diversity of bacteria in the waste was studied, and found that some bacteria groups promote plant growth, which can produce many enzymes producing organic acids, fixing nitrogen, dissolving phosphates, and resisting fungi and bacteria. The chemical composition of residues from feeding the black soldier fly larvae with chicken feed resulted in high levels of N, P, and K. Tofu dreg resulted in high levels of N, and pineapple peels resulted in high levels of K. All experiments yielded very high levels of organic matters and organic carbons. Except for the leftovers from the black soldier fly larvae mixed with chicken manure. However, it was found that the pH values, carbon/nitrogen ratio, and moisture of both fresh and dried residues did not pass the criteria. Therefore, using wastes from the black soldier fly farming mixed with cassava pulp promotes the growth of roots and provides the highest productivity.

The use of black soldier fly as the protein source with the production of organic fertilizer
Project “The use of black soldier fly as the protein source with the production of organic fertilizer”

Supported by the National Research Council of Thailand (Fiscal year 2020)

Researcher
Asst. Pro. Dr. Chanwit Kaewtapee and team
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kasetsart University
50 Ngamwongwan Rd, Lat Yao, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900
Tel: 02-5791120 Fax: 02-5791120 E-mail: agrcwk@ku.ac.th