Article in the local newspaper "Dnevnik"
Article in the local newspaper "Dnevnik"
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THE FUTURE IS IN FARMING INSECTS AS PETS
THE FUTURE IS IN FARMING INSECTS AS PETS
The young PhD student of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Novi Sad almost fainted from laughter while huge mealworms, the protagonists of the Pro-Sustain project, were crawling on her hands. It is, in fact, research aimed at finding alternative sources of protein for feeding domestic animals. The essence is to replace at least part of the protein in animal feed that comes from traditional industrial crops, such as soybeans, which occupy large agricultural areas.
- Our idea is to use insects as a source of protein, namely those that live in this area of ours. In the world, many research projects focus on the so-called larvae. black soldier flies, while we opted for the well-known mealworm, the Latin Tenebrio molitor. Decades ago, it was only talked about as a storage pest, but it is actually extremely rich in high-quality proteins and high-quality fats - project manager Dr. Igor Jajić, full professor at the Department of Animal Husbandry of the Faculty of Agriculture, told "Dnevnik". - And the goal of our project is to produce high-quality protein in a small space, that is, with a high-quality amino acid composition, which is easily absorbed by all types of domestic animals.
The young PhD student of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Novi Sad almost fainted from laughter while huge mealworms, the protagonists of the Pro-Sustain project, were crawling on her hands. It is, in fact, research aimed at finding alternative sources of protein for feeding domestic animals. The essence is to replace at least part of the protein in animal feed that comes from traditional industrial crops, such as soybeans, which occupy large agricultural areas.
- Our idea is to use insects as a source of protein, namely those that live in this area of ours. In the world, many research projects focus on the so-called larvae. black soldier flies, while we opted for the well-known mealworm, the Latin Tenebrio molitor. Decades ago, it was only talked about as a storage pest, but it is actually extremely rich in high-quality proteins and high-quality fats - project manager Dr. Igor Jajić, full professor at the Department of Animal Husbandry of the Faculty of Agriculture, told "Dnevnik". - And the goal of our project is to produce high-quality protein in a small space, that is, with a high-quality amino acid composition, which is easily absorbed by all types of domestic animals.
- We have always viewed insects as pests and no one thinks about their nutritional needs, about conversion, about growth. And we look at them as domestic animals and through experiments we want to determine how much nutrients are needed for a kilogram of insect growth. And how much will it cost, so that we can compare it with other protein nutrients and draw a conclusion whether our idea holds water or not - explains Dr. Miroslava Polovinski Horvatović, research assistant at the Faculty of Agriculture. - The second part of the story refers to flour produced from insects, where we set up a metabolic and production experiment. In the first one, we examine how animals - in our case, broilers - react to "new" food, because in addition to protein, there are other substances that may have an anti-nutritional effect. And in the second trial, we monitor production results by monitoring indicators such as conversion, consumption... and our goal is that these results, if not better, will be at the same level as in the case of other protein nutrients.
Certainly, one of the most challenging tasks within the Pro-Sustain project is precisely the technological processing of larvae, that is, obtaining insect meal and its inclusion in feed mixtures for broiler chickens - a popular concentrate. According to Msc Marko Vukadinović, an assistant at the Animal Husbandry Department, the first step is drying the insect larvae, followed by degreasing and then grinding, all in order to obtain a standardized product, that is, a nutritionally uniform composition. In the next step, the formulation and optimization of the complete mixtures is done, and at the end of the chain comes the production of those mixtures that will be used in the aforementioned metabolic and production experiments.
- Already after the initial results, we left the laboratory and went to our Agrocampus in Temerin, where we established a "mini farm" of insects - says prof. Dr. Igor Jajić. - We have enormously increased productivity there compared to university conditions, and we already have a significant increase in insects. But for some more serious, industrial production, that scaling would have to be several times more. We have long known how much protein we can get from a square meter of soybeans; Now, how much and at what price can we get protein from a square meter of insects, we do not yet have a precise answer to that question, but I am sure that the profitability will not be questioned. And we sincerely hope that the results of our project will be an excellent starting point for starting a serious insect farm.
As part of the Pro-Sustain project, the analysis of frass, i.e. excrement left behind by the mealworm, will be important. Because, on the one hand, it is a potentially very high-quality organic fertilizer. However, since an important branch of the experiments also involves the cultivation of Tenebrio molitor on food contaminated with mycotoxins, primarily aflatoskin, which we often struggle with in our area, it is extremely important to know whether and how much toxins remain in the worms after they have digested the contaminated food . The first results show that Nikola Laćarac, who is working on his doctorate on the subject, reveals that mycotoxins are not retained in the insects but almost completely go into their excrement. In this sense, in the next phase, the detoxification of the frass will be carried out, so that in the end the product will be completely clean, that is, ready for use in the fields.
Miroslav Stajić
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