Dear MEL Topic Readers,
The insect farmers turning to AI to help lower costs
The black soldier fly is the insect farming industry's crown jewel,
representing a protein source that can make our food more sustainable. They are
considered neither pests nor vectors. Instead, their larvae decompose organic
substances and return nutrients to the soil. Also, they are an alternative
source of protein for aquaculture, animal feed, and pet food. A small company near
Bangkok, Thailand rears black soldier fly larvae to produce animal feed for
shrimp and pig farms. The larvae are fed with fruit and vegetable waste to
grow. In order to maximize production efficiency, the company uses AI to control
the environment, optimize space, and feed the larvae. As more trials and errors
are fed into the AI model, it will learn to provide more efficient solutions that
will help reduce the production cost, which is still a few times more costly
than soybean feed at the moment. If grown efficiently with environmentally
friendly feed and in an environment with the help of AI, black solder fly
larvae might one day become an ideal source of nutrients for fish, animals,
pets, and even humans. Until then, AI needs to be fed with sufficient data.
Read the article and learn about how insect larvae and AI could help
feed animals better.
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