EVALUATION OF THE GROWTH OF BLACK SOLDIER FLY LARVAE VALORIZED ON FERMENTED WATER HYACINTH PLANT

Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) receive recognition in mass-rearing for food and feed, and is rapidly increasing. BSFL are rich in protein and essential nutrients, hence being a valuable food source for livestock, poultry, and aquaculture. BSFL are remarkably versatile in decomposing various organic wastes and can be a useful additive in animal feed formulations. Water hyacinth (WH) has been recognized as the most invasive aquatic weed in the world due to its rapid growth and negative impact on the aquatic ecosystem. This study estimates the sustainability of using BSFL to degrade water hyacinth in terms of life table parameters of BSF preimaginal stages, such as survival time, mass weight, length, and fecundity. Larvae were reared on five diets: T0 = 100 % C diet, T1 = 50 % C diet + 50 % fermented water hyacinth, T2 = 33.33 % C diet + 66.66 % fermented water hyacinth, T3 = 25 % C diet + 75 % fermented water hyacinth, and T4 = 100 % fermented water hyacinth. The results showed that larval diet significantly impacted BSF development and mixing FWH with the C diet resulted in a considerable increase in BSF preimaginal stage mass weight, length, survival time, and fecundity as compared to the C diet alone, which was significantly shorter. Overall, BSFL diets can be partially replaced with FWH instead of traditional and costly energy sources (wheat bran plus corn flour), hence the BSF industry increase, and can be an eco-friendly solution to WH proliferation.