Planning IUCRC at Texas A&M University: Center for Environmental Sustainability through Insect Farming (CEStIns)

未来40年，人口增长对粮食的需求预计将增加100%;然而，预计农业生产的增长将无法满足约40%的需求。无法满足未来的粮食需求，给全世界目前营养不良和生活条件低于标准的10亿人带来了更大的压力。这些限制将表现为社会压力的扩大，例如但不限于疾病率的增加、对土地和水资源的需求以及缺乏农业创业精神，这只会进一步削弱全球经济。一种可持续的方法（即，实用和经济），而生产高价值的蛋白质是生态系统和农业的长期健康所必不可少的。一种解决办法是利用昆虫养殖来转化有机废物，这将有可能为农民产生具有货币价值的替代资源。昆虫养殖可以产生大量的蛋白质和脂质，可用于各种商品环境（例如，饲料生产，堆肥，生物燃料，在某些情况下人类食物）。 在减少土地和水的使用以及减少排放方面，这种替代蛋白质来源的生产比目前使用的大多数方法对环境的压力更小。昆虫养殖环境可持续发展中心（CESTIns）将由三个地点组成（德克萨斯&农工农业生命研究中心[TAMU]、印第安纳州普渡大学印第安纳波利斯分校[IUPUI]和密西西比州立大学[MSU]），每个站点专门从事特定的研究领域。 TAMU基地的目的是，1）研究昆虫生物学的基本参数，以优化工业化生产，2）与工程师合作开发昆虫大规模生产所需的设备，3）进行饲料试验，将昆虫蛋白用作牲畜和人的饲料。TAMU将与其他研究中心合作，将这三个研究中心的研究重点与IUPUI和MSU进行整合，分别侧重于遗传学和微生物学/质量保证。此外，所有三个地点将与工业生产的菌株以及内部开发的菌株合作，以优化大规模生产。实验室和现场实验也将涉及微生物学、工程学、化学、食品营养学、生理学和脊椎动物生物学领域的跨学科专业知识和尖端技术。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Food demand from the growing human population is expected to increase 100% over the next 40 years; however, predicted growth in agriculture production will fail to meet demand by ~40%. The inability to meet future food demands places more pressure on the one billion individuals currently underfed and living in substandard conditions throughout the world. These limitations will manifest into amplified social pressures such as, but not limited to, increased rates of disease, demand for land and water resources, and a lack of agricultural entrepreneurship, which only further weakens the global economy. A sustainable method (i.e., practical and economical) for remediating agricultural waste, while producing high value protein is essential to the long-term health of ecosystems and agriculture. One solution is the utilization of insect farming to convert organic wastes, which will potentially produce alternate resources of monetary value for the farmer. Insect farming can produce enormous amounts of protein and lipids that can be used in a variety of commodity settings (e.g., feed production, compost, biofuels, human food in some cases). And this production of alternative protein sources is less environmentally straining than most currently used methods in terms of reduced land and water usage and reduced emissions.The Center for Environmental Sustainability through Insect Farming (CESTIns) will be comprised of three sites (Texas A&M AgriLife Research [TAMU], Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis [IUPUI], and Mississippi State University [MSU]), with each site specializing in a specific area of research. The purpose of the TAMU site is to, 1) investigate basic parameters of insect biology to optimize industrialized production, 2) work with engineering to develop equipment needed for insect mass production, and 3) conduct feed trials for using insect protein as feed for livestock as well as people. TAMU will work with the other sites to integrate research thrusts across the three sites with IUPUI and MSU focusing on genetics and microbiology/quality assurance, respectively. Further, all three sites will work with strains produced by Industry as well as strains developed internally as a means to optimize mass production. Laboratory and field-based experiments will also engage interdisciplinary expertise in microbiology, engineering, chemistry, food nutrition, physiology, and vertebrate biology with cutting edge technologies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.