[Courtesy of www.entomarket.com]
Insect farming is becoming a new conversation topic in South Korea after government officials have unveiled a series of measures to develop a distribution network and a production base and research for edible insects.
The agriculture ministry announced a new five-year plan Monday to extend financial and other support aimed at increasing the number of farms raising edible insects from 724 last year to 1,200 in 2020.
The ministry promised to expand the market for edible insects from 303.9 billion won (265 million US dollars) last year to 500 billion won in 2010. A state fund of 15 billion won would be funnelled into research and development for five years.
Ministry officials believe edible insects would become a promising future industry because they provide a good protein source.
Insects used for cooking include grasshoppers, crickets, mealworms and honey ants. They are rich in protein and minerals and contain a high amount of unsaturated fatty acid. Crickets contain more protein than beef.
CJ CheilJedang, a food processing unit of CJ group, is the front-runner among South Korean companies looking into edible insects as a smart alternative to traditional protein. It has signed a deal with a research lab to use insects as ingredients in ready-to-eat products and recipes.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in an earlier report that insects could be used in the global fight against hunger and to increase food security.
Forest insects form part of the traditional diet for some two billion people worldwide and are a readily available source of nutritious and protein-rich food, it said, adding some of the most widely consumed insects include beetles, caterpillars, bees, wasps, and ants.
On average, insects use just two kilograms of feed to produce one kilogram of meat, compared to cattle which require eight kilograms of feed to produce the same amount, the UN agency said.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
