HiPer-Fly: Developing high performance breeds of Black Soldier Fly for the insects-as-feed sector

This project will develop a black-soldier-fly breeding programme that will supply continuously improving high-performance genetics to insect-as-feed producers in different environments.

Livestock and aquaculture protein demand is increasing due to human population growth, yet current production depends on volatile and unsustainable soy and fishmeal imports. An alternative source of protein for livestock and aquaculture feed are insects, which are rapidly growing in importance globally. Today there are 55+ black-soldier-fly producers in the UK, Europe, the Americas and Asia. Market calculations predict 300 production facilities worldwide by 2025, with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes of insect protein/yr and £2.1B/yr revenue. Black-soldier-fly producers need high-performance genetics because production facilities are capital intensive. However, black-soldier-fly producers do not have breeding resources and expertise to develop high-performance genetics, while there are no suppliers of such genetics (breeding programs).

The objectives of the project are to develop black-soldier-fly breeding resources and tools, an optimised black-soldier-fly breeding programme and assess market landscape for delivery of high-performance black-soldier-fly genetics to producers.

The project will achieve the above actions by combining the expertise of BetaBugs, The Roslin Institute, and M&S. This will deliver a black-soldier-fly breeding programme, which will double black-soldier-fly protein production by 2025\. This increased production will have further economic and environmental benefits to the wider agribusiness sector through sustainable local production of protein and new jobs. These benefits will in turn increase the efficiency and resilience of production feed and food and with that address the challenge of cleanly feeding a growing population.