Marius Grama wants to revolutionize Romanian animal husbandry
The farm for insects, and more precisely for their larvae, is an investment made by Marius Grama in Belin, Covasna County, Romania. The unusual business has huge potential for profit, provided that the feeding of the animals on a given farm starts with an unconventional source of protein, writes agrointel.ro.
Marius Grama admits that the insect farm is something new in Romania, but it is not unusual. In the case of this business, it must be said from the outset that the produce is not for human consumption, but for animal consumption.
In Bellin, in the Covasna district, Marius Gramma invested in an insect farm. The business manages to bring in modest income at the moment, so the farmer plans to expand production to provide protein feed for livestock farms.
The idea of an insect farm germinated in the mind of Marius Gramma four years ago, when he experimented in the nursery, in an aquarium, with eggs imported from Great Britain, and later in a second room the activity expanded to breeding. The step to the real business was made with the help of a relatively easy bank loan, especially since the project comes with an important real estate purchase. “The place where we operate now came out of bankruptcy – that is, it was abandoned, unguarded and nobody wanted it, and there were problems with the documents. We took a risk, agreed with the bank and the bailiff on some good terms, including for us, and then little by little we invested in equipment, in technology,” Marius Grama explains how he founded the insect farm.
The most difficult is the reproduction part, because certain conditions of brightness, humidity, air currents, density must be observed – including the green color used in the environment comes after some research. I dug around on Google and found things that we implemented here, achieving the productivity of collecting at most one kilogram of eggs per day here in this space, which means that we can produce from one kilogram of eggs, 4 tons of live larvae per day” , says the non-traditional farmer, who in the first phase invested over 200,000 euros in layout and production technology, now plans to expand. “Our goal is to produce larvae – several tons per day and reach one euro per kilogram of live larvae – which means very well, and to reach out to farmers,” explains Gramma.
The species of insect bred on the Belin farm is called the Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens), which does not grow naturally where it does not find the necessary temperature and humidity conditions. “They don’t survive the winter if they escape. In the fly stage, they do not feed – they have no digestive tract, they do not spread disease because they are not attracted to food at all, they survive by living off the reserves accumulated by the larval stage, which is also the source of protein. Like the fly, the insect only mates and lays eggs,” says Marius Gramma about the “animals” on his farm.
The larvae of this fly contain up to 40% protein, and 20-30% of their content is fat. They also have a lot of calcium, which is why they are also known as “calcium worms”, ie. calcium worms.
“Larvae consume until they reach a certain level of protein. Even if they are smaller, even if they are bigger, when they reach 40% protein level, they turn black and turn into pupae from which flies emerge. We harvest them before they become flies – so up to the pupa stage, so the protein content is always constant, it’s the same, we don’t have fluctuations. On the feeding side of the larvae, we only give them bran. From the first day to the last day I get only bran and finally the result of the analysis is the same. We don’t have fluctuations in size or protein level, it’s a uniform production,” explains Marius Gramma, who emphasizes that if drying is done to obtain the oil, then a protein level of 60% can be harvested. The oil can similarly be used for animal feed, but we did not invest in an oil press because we did not have the requirements,” says the farmer.
From the egg stage to harvest, the process takes a maximum of 20 days. The eggs are collected in special equipment, then weighed, dosed and moved to a special room where they hatch at a higher temperature and higher humidity. Later, in the growth compartment, within a maximum of 10 days, depending on the external temperature, current and humidity, sorting takes place and the vermicompost is separated from the live larva. The larvae are then dried using a microwave dryer, a relatively new technology that also sterilizes them. The resulting product is packed in a bag, envelope or bottle.
At this moment, the insect farm, specifically the larvae, is an important supplier in the field of fishing lures and pet food. But the business has huge potential in animal husbandry, where insects can be used as high-protein food “Our products reach pets best. This means – at home, in the family there is an iguana, another reptile or an exotic fish, a hedgehog or another small animal that is part of the family, and then the owner, the master, is ready to pay more for quality food, and not only quality, but brings this pet’s joy,” states the manufacturer.
The goal of the insect farm is to become a feed supplier for animal farms, as an alternative to soybean meal. “The advantages of using larvae in animal feed are many. First of all, the welfare of the animals – stimulates their hunting instinct. They are practically happy so they have what they always wanted without knowing they wanted it. It is in their genetic code to search, to dig, to hunt, to enjoy their natural food. The tests we did showed that apart from the weight gain and the happiness of the animals, the mortality rate decreased – at least in the fish you can see the joy and excitement when they get live larvae and also, if we’re just talking about fish, the live larvae when applied in water, do not deteriorate the quality of the water – i.e. commercial feed, no matter how good it is, which is not consumed by the fish, changes the quality of the water and then our larvae come as an alternative, and what is not consumed immediately remains in the water and is consumed later,” says Marius Gramma .
The farmer’s plans to expand the market collide with the traditionalism that characterizes the agricultural sector. “In our case, it is not the animal that needs to be convinced, but the master or owner of the farm. (…) The biggest opening we have found in the industry – if we can call it that, in sport fishing. (…) An essential detail I can say about vermicompost produced by insects is that it contains chitin. So the exoskeleton of larvae, flies or pupae is made of chitin, and when plants sense this chitin, they think they are attacked by insects and develop their immune system. In addition to the nutritional qualities, it’s like an immunity boost, it’s like a natural vaccine,” Marius Gramma highlights a lesser-known benefit of eating insects.
To take his business to a higher level, the Belin insect breeder needs a serious investment, which will amount to at least 1.6 million and maybe 2 million euros. The farm could produce 20 tons of feed per day, that is, 3-4 tons of live larvae, the retail price of which is one euro per kilogram. “A very important detail is the fact that we do not generate waste, we only consume water, heat and bran in our case now, but everything that is produced is used and then used to make a very good vermicompost which we managed to solve it too. It’s eco-bio-zen-organic, everything you want and we’re struggling with sales – to give value to what we produce,” adds the farmer.
#Romanian #farmer #grows #insect #larvae #animal #protein #feed
