EFFECT OF DIFFERENT SUBSTRATE ON THE GROWTH AND WASTE UTILIZATION OF BLACK SOLDIER (Hermetia illucens) FLY LARVAE

Abstract

Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae (BSFL) are a potentially sustainable source of protein for use as agriculture and aquaculture feeds, and a constructive means of disposing of organic wastes. Optimizing larval culture of these larvae depends on the refinement of husbandry methods. Towards this objective we investigated the use of different substrates on larval growth performance and utilization. The substrates were poultry waste (PW) T1, cow waste (CW) T2, swine waste (SW) T3 and mixture of PW, CW and SW (PCSW), T4. Efficiency of conversion of digested feed (ECD) were evaluated. The substrate of CW had the lowest assimilation rate while the mix PCSW was significantly (P<0.05) lower than PW and SW. The ECD levels of all treatments were significantly different (P<0.05) from each other with the PCSW substrate having the lowest ECD. Poultry waste (PW) and swine waste (SW) was more suitable for BSF hatching compared to CW and mixture of PCSW. This

was evident after 11 g of BSF eggs hatched in 7 kg of PW which produced an average larva of 3.69 ± 0.10 kg. This was not significantly (P>0.05) different to swine waste (SW) which produced 3.65 ±0.10 kg of young larvae in five days. Cow waste produced a total of 0.80 ± 0.003 kg which was significantly (P<0.05) lower than the

production in PCSW (2.83 ±0.033). It is therefore recommended that BSFL should be cultured in SW and PW to obtain a more optimal amount of larva for feeding livestock.