Improving crop growth and resilience utilising residual streams from insect production, a contribution to circular agriculture

Summary

We are in transition towards a circular agriculture: we intend to reduce or reuse residual streams as much as possible. The large-scale production of insects for food and feed can make an important contribution to this transition. Insects can feed on currently under-utilised residual streams and convert them into high-quality animal proteins that are suitable for human consumption and as feed. However, the insects themselves also produce a residual stream in the form of insect manure and moulted skins. These residual streams can be mixed through soil for the cultivation of crops to increase the abundance of plant-beneficial soil bacteria and improve crop growth. Furthermore, the plants show an increased defence response towards plant-feeding insects and recruit more natural enemies of the plant feeders. These effects were found both in the greenhouse and in the open field. Soil amendment with insect residual streams thus contributes to circular agriculture and may reduce the need for artificial fertilisers and synthetic pesticides!