Agricultural food standards agency to promote use of insect larvae for making animal feeds
The National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards will promote the use of larvae of black soldier flies as main ingredients for making farm animal feeds and pet foods for both local consumption and export.
Bureau secretary-general Pisan Pongsapitch unveiled the plan during a seminar jointly held by the Livestock Development Department, and the Thai Feed Mill Association at the Rama Gardens Hotel in Bangkok on Tuesday.
The seminar was aimed at educating animal feed makers and farmers of black soldier flies about the regulations for using black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) in making the feeds and for exporting BSFL and feeds and pet foods that are made of BSFL.
Pisan said the bureau held the seminar with cooperation from other partners and some universities after the bureau realised the high potential of BSFL as an alternative protein source for making pet foods and animal feeds.
Pisan said black soldier flies and can digest organic waste of various agricultural by-products and produce protein and fat with high nutrition value in their larvae.
As a result, the BSFL can be used as an alternative source of protein to reduce cost. Moreover, fish farmers can use the larvae as feeds for their fish and save a lot of cost.
Pisan said the BSFL will not only help reduce a lot of cost for the animal feed industry and fishing farms, it would also respond to the new trend of the world of making farming environmentally friendly in accordance with the Bio-Circular-Green sustainable development concept.
The seminar was attended by 350 insect farmers and representatives of businesses that can use BSFL as raw materials.
