Insect Day fell on Sept. 7. Edible insects have not fully been recognized as food for human consumption, but 10 insect species, designated as edible by the Rural Development Administration (RDA), has already contributed to revitalizing the agricultural economy.
Farming households related to edible insect farming and their sales have surged about 80 percent in the recent five years.
Major countries, including the Netherlands, Australia and the United States, have stepped on the gas to conduct research on edible insects.
Even Korea needs to attach priority to nurture the edible insect sector into a global industry. Migratory locusts were accepted as the 10th edible insect on Sept. 13.
According to RDA and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), migratory locust became the 10th species to be designed as new food materials.
RDA evaluated the characteristics, nutrition and toxicity of migratory locust and the standardization of breeding and production process, while MFDS examined its safety.
The nine edible insects, approved earlier, include bombysis corpus, edible silkworm, locus and Japanese rhinoceros beetle.
An image view of migratory locust.
Migratory locusts belong to the family Acrididae, like locusts, being used as an edible insect, but the former is evaluated to have excellent productivity as it is twice bigger than the latter and the breeding period is half.
Migratory locusts, containing a 70 percent protein content and a 7.7 percent unsaturated fatty acid, may be used for making a variety of foods, including cereals.
Prior to approval of migratory locust, RDA conducted research on the characteristics, nutrition and toxicity of the insect as well as standardization of its optical production process during the two-year period between Jan. 1, 209 and Dec. 31, 2020.
As edible insects are on the rise, the Korean insect industry is also growing. Farming households related to the Korean insect industry surged from 1,597 in 2016 to 2,136 in 2017 and 2,318 in 2018 and 2,873 in 2020.
Their sales increased from 22.5 billion won in 2016 to 34.5 billion won in 2017, 37.5 billion own in 2018, 40.5 billion won in 2019 and 41.4 billion won in 2020.
An image view of powered food made with migratory locust.
Generally speaking, edible insects contain two-times more protein than an equal portion of beef, on top of being rich in fiber and vitamins. Breeding edible insects consume less water and greenhouse gas emissions compared to livestock.
The average breeding period of edible insects is three months, which is much shorter than livestock, and productivity is 12-times higher.
Experts say that the nation, lacking natural resources, needs to revalue the farming related to insects and nurture it into a global industry.
RDA said, “Major countries, including the Netherlands, Australia and the Unites States, recognizing the potential of edible insects, have scrambled to conduct research, and Korea, albeit belatedly, needs to conduct research focusing on its strength, saying that the major countries had not utilized insets as edible ones previously.”
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