Promoter organisation: Entogreen
Country: Portugal
What:
The world population has increased exponentially and in response animal production has become increasingly intensive and unsustainable.
Agricultural producers face difficulties in nourishing their soil , using essentially chemical and mineral fertilizers, which contribute to water pollution. The demand for more sustainable fertilizers has increased and organic fertilizers are a possible solution, contributing to greater water retention in the soil and reducing the leaching of mineral nutrients.
The global production of products of animal origin has grown aggressively in recent years, driving up the prices of these nutritional sources and increasing the environmental impact of their production.
In the case of agricultural production, difficulties arise in the search for nutritional sources for animals , essentially proteins. The nutritional sources currently used are essentially soybeans , almost entirely imported into Europe, and fishmeal , which depends on the capture of fish at sea and which is essentially used to feed fish in aquaculture.
How:
In the company’s facilities adult flies (Black soldier flies) are produced and raised which live in the ideal conditions to provide reproduction and the production of large quantities of eggs. These fly eggs are then inoculated into a food mixture developed by Entogreen that will generate larvae at the ideal stage for inoculation into food waste to be bioconverted.
We make use of waste vegetable products given to us by producers. This waste, exclusively vegetable and of controlled origin, is processed and used to feed the insects produced in our facilities.
After a few days the larvae increased several times in size and digested all the waste used, converting the nutrients present in the waste into organic fertilizer for the soil.
The larvae, rich in protein and fat, are then fed to animals ( whose natural foods is insects) or processed into meal and insect oil as a nutritional solution for animals.
When: 2014
Why it is relevant:
- Promotes sustainable seafood farming
- Works towards the transformation of the business practices of farmers, fishers and aquaculture producers through technological solutions (bio industrial technology)
- Fosters alternative feed materials (i.e. insects)
Target Groups:
Farming businesses, Producers, Fish farming industry, Research institutions
RESULTS OF THE GOOD PRACTICE
Results obtained at local, regional, national or international level, changes – IMPACT on target groups.
- Fishmeal, a protein source used in aquaculture, is highly unsustainable given the exploitation of the oceans.The insect protein produced by Entogreen is a substitute for it. Intensive fishing already threatens countless species with extinction, making it impossible to renew them.
- In turn, the population increase implies an intensification of agricultural and livestock production. Which means an increase in greenhouse gases from animal production and even greater pressure on their food sources.