Scots are being encouraged to breed flies, crickets and mealworms to help boost the economy and protect the environment, and a government-funded agency is to host a series of events,

starting tonight, to encourage people to consider farming insects. Creepy-crawlies may make some people squirm but the idea of harvesting them on an industrial scale is to be touted as a

money-spinner. The most common harvested insects are the larvae of South American black soldier fly, crickets and mealworms. They can quickly eat tonnes of organic waste such as potato

peelings and unwanted vegetables, and are then processed to produce protein-rich ingredients for animal feed. At present such feed comes mostly from soybean and fish meal, and producing it

would be the “next big thing”. “It’s open to everyone, from householders to smallholders, existing food producers looking to diversify, companies in the bioeconomy sector, and entrepreneurs

with an eye for innovation,” he said. Breeding larva makes only a small demand on water or land and does not require chemical fertilisers or pesticides. “It doesn’t require lots of space,”

said Dr Clark. “The farms can range in size from a small shed or a few shipping containers to industrial-scale feed mills. In all cases, you can produce significant volumes of sustainable

protein using a fraction of the resources. Advertisement “Scotland really is a great place to farm insects. We have seen lots of interest.” Dr Clark said the insects eat significant amounts

of food waste while they grow to full size. “When you harvest them, you get the protein and that goes off to be made into animal feed. Their shells can be made into an amazing bioplastic,

while the manure that is left over can be used as fertiliser.” Dr Clark added: “We have had increasing inquiries from the public [and] it is helping farmers to diversify their incomes. By

farming insects, you reduce the carbon footprint right across the food chain.” In the Netherlands, companies already have large facilities to turn billions of insects into animal protein.

Jeff Tomberlin, a professor at Texas A&M University, has been studying the black soldier fly for more than 20 years. “You can grow these insects anywhere in the world,” he said.

Advertisement “I’ve been to facilities that can digest a hundred tonnes a day of waste. That’s a hundred tonnes of waste that won’t go into a landfill, a hundred tonnes that won’t produce

greenhouse gases.” Last year the British Veterinary Association asked pet owners to consider feeding their dogs and cats on a diet containing insects. It said it was essential to find food

that does not deplete soil or water, or fuel climate change. Simon Doherty, then association president, said the profession should continue to “embrace innovative enabling technologies that

allow us to scale-up insect production to industrial levels”.