4.7 Article

Low-cost technology for recycling agro-industrial waste into nutrient-rich organic fertilizer using black soldier fly

Journal

WASTE MANAGEMENT
Volume 119, Issue -, Pages 183-194

Publisher

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2020.09.043

Keywords

Black soldier fly larvae; Compost maturity; Nutrient retention in frass fertilizer; Substrate amendment; Waste recycling

Funding

  1. Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
  2. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) (INSFEED-Phase 2: Cultivate Grant) [108866-001]
  3. Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, WOTRO Science for Global Development (NWO-WOTRO) [ILIPA-W 08.250.202]
  4. Rockefeller Foundation through the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) [SiPFeed-2018 FOD 009]
  5. Kenyatta University
  6. ICIPE core funding by United Kingdom's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)
  7. Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)
  8. Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)
  9. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
  10. Government of the Republic of Kenya

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This study found that mixing brewer's spent grain with sawdust can increase black soldier fly larval yield and improve nutrient content of frass fertilizer. The substrate with a C/N ratio of 15 showed the best results. Compost maturation time was shortened to five weeks, providing high-quality fertilizer for organic farming.
Efforts to recycle organic waste using black soldier fly (BSF) larvae into high-quality alternative protein ingredients in animal feeds and organic fertilizers have gained momentum worldwide. However, there is limited information on waste manipulation to increase nutrient retention for enhanced larval performance and frass fertilizer quality. In the present study, brewer's spent grain with a carbon to nitrogen (C/ N) ratio of 11 (control) was amended with sawdust to obtain substrates with C/N ratios of 15, 20, 25 and 30. The effects of substrate C/N ratios on BSF larval yield, waste degradation, biomass conversion efficiency, compost maturity and nutrient levels of frass fertilizer were evaluated. Substrates amended with sawdust did not significantly affect waste degradation efficiency and biomass conversion rates of BSF larvae. The wet and dried larval yields were significantly higher for substrates with C/N ratio of 15 compared to the other amended substrates. An amended substrate with C/N ratio of 15 enhanced nutrients uptake by BSF larvae, and increased nitrogen (N) and phosphorus retention in frass compost by 21 and 15%, respectively. Compost maturation time was shortened to five weeks, as indicated by the stable C/N ratios and high seed germination indices. This study has demonstrated that the amendment of the substrate with sawdust to C/N ratio of 15 could generate compost with desirable nutrients for use as high quality fertilizer for organic farming. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.

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