{"id":4327,"date":"2026-10-18T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/?p=4327"},"modified":"2026-10-18T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T09:00:00","slug":"png-moves-toward-a-national-standard-for-black-soldier-fly-farming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/?p=4327","title":{"rendered":"PNG moves toward a national standard for black soldier fly farming"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"pb50-lead\">Black soldier fly farming is still new in Papua New Guinea, but the groundwork for doing it safely and at scale is being laid. The National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) and the National Institute of Standards and Industrial Technology (NISIT) are discussing a national standard for BSF farming.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pb50-keyfacts\">\n<h3>Key facts<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Training:<\/b> PNG participants joined a month-long course at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) in Nairobi, Kenya, from 25 April to 23 May 2025, organised by ACIAR<\/li>\n<li><b>Who took part:<\/b> Researchers from NARI, the PNG University of Technology (Unitech), Edai Town and Lae City Mission, plus NISIT<\/li>\n<li><b>Next step:<\/b> A national standard to make BSF farming &#8220;accessible and acceptable&#8221; to communities<\/li>\n<li><b>Research roots:<\/b> NARI principal scientist Dr Michale Dom first found BSF larvae in a bin of fermented cassava in 2009 and has studied them as fish feed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Why a standard matters<\/h2>\n<p>NISIT project coordinator Max Kadobu, who attended the Nairobi course, told <em>The National<\/em> that &#8220;standards are essential tools for achieving sustainability&#8221;. A standard would set out how larvae are reared, what waste can be used and how feed and frass are handled, giving farmers, buyers and regulators confidence in BSF products.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/pb50-bsf-prepupae-576x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Mature larvae and dark prepupae ready for harvest\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><figcaption>Mature larvae and dark prepupae, the stage at which BSF larvae are harvested for feed. Photo: ShaunRomero, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Building on regional links<\/h2>\n<p>The training followed a 2024 knowledge exchange in which Pacific delegates, including Unitech&#8217;s Dr Janet Pandi, visited icipe and Kenyan insect farms, and a return visit by African scientists to Fiji, Vanuatu and PNG. Unitech has since proposed adding BSF studies to its Animal Science curriculum and researching BSF for livestock feed and organic fertiliser.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pb50-angle\">\n<h3>What it means for PNG<\/h3>\n<p>A national standard, together with trained researchers in Port Moresby, Lae and Edai Town, means communities that start BSF units will have clear rules and local experts to call on. It is one reason PNG Beyond50 Foundation is backing a dedicated BSF facility at Edai Town.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pb50-sources\">\n<h3>Sources<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenational.com.pg\/black-soldier-fly-farming\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Black Soldier Fly farming, The National (14 October 2025)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aciar.gov.au\/media-search\/blogs\/pacific-abuzz-african-insect-knowledge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pacific abuzz with African insect knowledge, ACIAR (31 July 2024)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unitech.ac.pg\/knowledge-exchange-visit-to-assess-the-potential-for-insect-based-livestock-feed-production-in-the-pacific\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Knowledge exchange visit to assess insect-based livestock feed production in the Pacific, PNG University of Technology<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NARI and NISIT are working on a national BSF standard after PNG researchers, including a team from Edai Town, trained at Kenya&#8217;s icipe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-png-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pngbeyond50.atopng.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}