In Entomotech we are developing really innovative projects in several areas of work such as mass production of arthropods, nutrition in aquaculture, the contribution for new solutions in agriculture, among others. We present some of these projects that we think, it will revolutionize the state of art:
Leading an Eureka Eurostars European Project
In 2014 the European Union approved the PREDMITEFEED project within its Eurostars Eureka programme. Dutch and Spanish companies and institutions, led by Entomotech, participated in this project. With a budget of approximately one and a half million euros, this projects aims to develop artificial food sources based on encapsulation techniques that can be used for mass production and field applications of predatory mites. Through these new techniques and diets, it is possible to develop new biological control agents, which can be sold world wide in agricultural crops.
Nutrition in aquaculture
When we talk about arthropod diet, we are not talking about ingredients, we talk about nutrients, and when we talk about nutrients, we don’t just talk about amino-acids, fatty acids, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals or binders. At Entomotech, we have been working hard to go beyond the concept of nutrition, developing feed trials with crustaceans to find out which components will give multi function nutrients, acting as well as immuno-stimulants, growth factors, or fertility inducers. We have been isolating several insect components that have shown an increase in growth of about 10% more in our shrimps than the control, with females showing larger spawning and increasing larval survability. The immunity was boosted which in turn would decrease economic loss. Our next step is to continue working to achieve large production of these newly developed components and be able to offer to the industry at competitive prices.
Alternative Protein Sources
FAO say: “Trends towards 2050 predict a steady population increase to 9 billion people, forcing an increased food/feed output from available agro-ecosystems resulting in an even greater pressure on the environment. Scarcities of agricultural land, water, forest, fishery and biodiversity resources, as well as nutrients and non-renewable”. In Entomotech we have set up a production system for converting organic matter remaining multiple industries, to generate proteins and fats of great interest using arthropods as converters. It is a sustainable solution for industry able to close the production cycle and provide ingredients and additives in feeds for livestock, aquaculture and pets. Just now we designed a pilot plant in Spain and we have exported our technology to implement production plants in third countries.
New Biological Pest Control Systems
Biological pest control is one of the most efficient ways to prevent plants from pests and diseases. Bio-control works in many different crops worldwide from temperate glasshouses to Mediterranean plastic greenhouses. After numerous experiences in the application of biological control in Mediterranean and Middle East greenhouses, we are now expanding our activities to other production areas and crops. We have been exploring and working on the development of new biological pest control systems in Columbian floriculture, looking for new predators and parasitoids, putting them under production and coming soon, putting them in the market to help farmers to decrease their dependency on pesticides. However, Columbia biodiversity is huge and we guess that the predatory mites we have been testing and the predatory chinches we have been selecting for bio-control will be just an small portion of the tools we could develop in the future.
