PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (May 25, 2023) — The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has awarded nearly $600,000 in support of a collaborative project led by Prairie View A&M University’s (PVAMU’s) Jayant Lohakare, Ph.D., focused on enhancing food security in a sustainable and environmentally responsible way.

Provided through the USDA’s 1890 Capacity Building Grants (CBG) Program, the grant – totaling $599,698 – will help fund research that explores the “Utilization of Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia Illucens) Larvae for Sustainable Food Animal Production and Organic Farming.”

Jayant Lohakare, Ph.D.

As stated in the project’s proposal, a third of the food produced in the U.S. is wasted and diverted to landfills and other waste management options. The research project’s objectives are to use black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) to degrade the waste generated from the animal and food industry and convert it into value-added product like fertilizer; promote BSFL as a greener, high-value animal feed protein alternative to human edible soybean; and use the byproduct (frass) from BSFL grown on different substrates as an organic fertilizer in sweet potato slip production.

“This innovative project funded by the USDA’s NIFA propels PVAMU’s mission to support and advance research focused on tackling complex issues at the forefront of society as they relate to the food, agricultural, human, and natural resource sciences,” said PVAMU Vice President of Research & Innovation Magesh Rajan, Ph.D., P.E., MBA.

As explained by Dr. Lohakare, a research scientist in PVAMU’s Cooperative Agricultural Research Center (CARC), an expectation for the project is that poultry production costs will be reduced by replacing the soybean meal with BSFL in poultry diets.

“The frass fertilizer generated will increase income for farmers through selling organic fertilizer or save the farmers from incurring daily inorganic fertilizer costs,” he said. “As an outcome, these sustainability measures will maximize poultry production efficiency and are environmentally friendly.”

Additionally, through this collaborative project – which includes Co-Project Directors (Co-PDs) Jeffery Tomberlin, Ph.D. (Texas A&M University), Woo-Kyun Kim, Ph.D. (University of Georgia), and Shaun Francis (University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) – research and educational opportunities will be provided to minorities, students, and poultry and organic farmers via extension programs.