Unveiling Environmental Influences on Sustainable Fertilizer Production through Insect Farming

Abstract

Entomocomposting is fast and environmentally friendly, boosts soil quality and crop production, and improves resilience to climate change. The black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) catalyze the composting process, but their efficiency is highly influenced by environmental factors and the quality of the substrate. This study employs response surface methodology to discern physical–chemical factors that influence the nutrient quality of BSF frass fertilizer. Internet of Things (IoT) sensors were deployed to monitor in real-time both independent variables (air temperature, moisture content, humidity, and substrate temperature) and dependent variables (nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium); the data were relayed to the cloud. A non-linear regression model was used to study the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. Results showed that air humidity and air temperature did not have a significant effect on nitrogen and phosphorus accumulation in frass fertilizer, respectively, but phosphorus was significantly influenced by air humidity. On the other hand, neither air temperature nor moisture content has a significant effect on potassium concentration in frass fertilizer. We found that an air temperature of 30 °C and 41.5 °C, substrate temperature of 32.5 °C and 35 °C, moisture content between 70 and 80%, and relative humidity beyond 38% can be conducive for the production of high-quality BSF frass fertilizer. Model validation results showed better robustness of prediction with R2 values of 63–77%, and Radj2 values of 62–76% for nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Our findings highlight the potential for the application of digital tools as a fast and cost-effective decision support system to optimize insect farming for the production of high-quality frass fertilizer for use in sustainable agriculture and crop production.