UK: A modular insect farm to practical use soon?

Harper Adams University is collaborating with agricultural technology company Flybox and Buckinghamshire egg farm on a £1 million project. The funding came from Innovate UK and Defra’s Future Farming R&D Fund, with partners creating and evaluating Farm 360.

The aim is to combat climate change, land overuse and food waste by using insects as a sustainable source of protein on commercial farms.

Business and Science Outcomes

Principal Investigator at Harper Adams University Dr. Jane Eastham said: “This is an exciting project that builds on the success of our business partner in Africa while also leveraging the multidisciplinary expertise of Harper Adams scientists. As we progress on the project, we anticipate that it will not only provide valuable economic insights, but also increase our knowledge of and development of alternative protein sources.” and applied.

Flybox has successfully implemented projects in Kenya and the UK in partnership with local businesses, NGOs and the government.

Insect protein reduces dependence on animal protein sources

And in time, Flybox’s modular technology will aim to unlock the enormous benefits of insect farming for an increasingly crowded food supply chain. Insect farming has huge potential to reduce land and water use and address food shortages in the long term by reducing global reliance on unsustainable protein sources. However, in the UK, the uptake of insect protein is limited to some industries, and farmers are still waiting to reap the benefits.

New funding enables widespread dissemination

The new financing will allow Farm 360 for the project to seamlessly integrate with commercial poultry farms with a sustainable source of animal feed protein.

Each stage of the insect rearing process has its own customized and pre-designed component. Together, they create a low-investment system that allows farmers to produce their own insect protein for animal feed.

Breeding insects directly on the farm

Flybox co-founder and CEO Andrea Jagodek said the company’s goal is to make insect-keeping technology more accessible and to move away from the era of centralized insect-keeping facilities: “With funding from Innovate UK and Defra, we can now increase global food security by enabling farmers to farm insects directly. on their farms.