Growth of BSF (black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens) larvae on organic waste streams of potato processing and malting industries in the Netherlands : Experiment March 2021

Samenvatting

BSF larvae are highly efficient in converting all kinds of waste streams into larval protein richbiomass and organic matter. These properties make the BSF larvae perfect candidates for upgrading local waste streams into organic fertilizer in the pilot project ‘Kringlooplandbouw Veenkoloniën’ (circular agriculture Veenkoloniën). In this report different regional substrates, such as germinated barley, barley dust, secondary food industry sludge, primary sludge, pig manure solids, or combinations of these, were used to grow BSF larvae. The growth of the larvae was closely monitored. At the end of the 7 day experiment, the dry matter of the larvae, the growth rate per day, the conversion rate of the substrate and the ease of separating the frass from the larvae were determined. The BSF larvae grew on each substrate, but the highest growth rate (fresh weight) was observed when the larvae were grown on the substrate of germinated barley + barley dust. The observed growth rate was 10.0 mg/day of fresh weight respectively. The highest substrate conversion index (WRI) based on dry matter of 11.93 g/d was observed in primary sludge + germinated barley. Overall, these regional substrates show potential as a feed stream for the cultivation of BSF larvae.