Grasshopper Harvesting & Sales in Uganda

Grasshoppers are seasonally harvested from the wild in Uganda. Check out this video that details the harvesting process and also the sales channel. 

https://youtu.be/9PuTBZ9ZIxg

Vertical Insect Agriculture

 One of the nice aspects of insect agriculture is the ability to farm vertically. This means that there is potential for expansion other than a horizontal spread covering more square footage. Imagine a large warehouse-type facility that is stacked 15 feet tall with grasshopper pens.

I have recently been experimenting with some stackable cages and vertical infrastructure. 

Grasshopper Feeding Experiments

I recently was made aware of some work that was done years ago by the USDA that detailed a dry diet for grasshoppers. Grasshoppers don't drink water. They get what little H2O they need from the greens they eat. The green food is also a hurdle in the large scale production of grasshoppers. The feeding aspect is time-consuming and can also be a large expense. I have been contemplating dry feeding options lately in the Thoptera grasshopper facility. If the greens (we feed mostly free, organic lettuce and some wheatgrass) could be supplemented or substituted with a dry feed source, it would make a huge difference in the operation and ultimately profitability. 

Below is a photo of some trial work that is ongoing with feeding our grasshoppers a supplement of pelletized forages. The feed is moistened with water at feeding.

Chickens LOVE Grasshoppers!

Backyard poultry love grasshopper snacks!

 

More Schistocerca americana

Schistocerca americana (also known as the American Bird Grasshopper) love to eat. Below is a photo of some that are a couple of weeks old at feeding time. They are feasting on some homegrown lettuce from our caterpillar tunnel.

Schistocerca americana nymphs hatch

There have been struggles recently with consistent hatches. After speaking with several entomologists, I began to follow of different hatching protocol for Schistocerca americana egg pods. Today was the day the first egg pod was supposed to hatch and it happened right on time. Several dozen nymphs have hatched and more are on the way.  

Schistocerca americana nymph

This one container holds 3 or 4 egg pods. This is the first one to hatch and the first one laid. So there should be several more hundred that will hatch from this container in the coming days.

The above video shows the newly hatched nymphs in their new home. The following video shows a side view of the egg pod container. Hatching nymphs can be seen (they are bright green) below the surface in the cavity left by the egg pod.

Work also continues on M. differentialis, but for now the focus of production will be on S. americana. 

Working on incubation and hatching....

Work is ongoing relative to establishing a reliable incubation and hatching protocol. Egg pods collected over the summer have been slow and sporadic to hatch. The images below give some insight into what has been going on the last few months.

Some industry contacts have been made as well. Much has been learned and they were kind enough to share a great amount of information.