Protect limited resources

Resources required for aquaculture

Now let's look at the specific amount of resources needed for production.




Water and feed requirements

First, the table above compares crickets to other livestock in terms of water and feed requirements per edible portion.
Crickets need 0.04% of the water of a chicken and only 0.004% of that of a cow. The difference will be obvious from the numbers. Crickets also require 70% of the feed of chickens and 17% of that of cows.

Among insects, crickets, in particular, seem to be an eco-friendly source of protein that consumes fewer resources than other livestock.





Required land area

The next graph below shows the area required for production.
The graph gives the value of millworms as insects and shows that millworms maximum can be farmed in about 8% of the area of cattle.
At a time when deforestation due to the expansion of agricultural land is becoming a problem, insectivores, which require only a small area for cultivation, are in the spotlight.

Entomophagy as space food?

As we have seen, insects can grow with fewer resources (water and feed) than are needed for aquaculture, and they are expected to be used in a variety of fields.

An example is the use of insect foods as "space food. If a spacecraft is developed to travel in space for many years, food in the spacecraft will not be sufficient only for preservation. Therefore, it is said that spacecraft need to be self-sufficient in producing food inside the spacecraft, so to speak. Insects, which can be easily grown in a small spacecraft with limited resources, are said to be a valuable source of protein in space.



Insects traveling through space... That's kind of romantic~!