While in Yunnan Province, China, in January, I was able to visit the Research Institute for Resource Insects. This institute has a number of departments investigating a range of areas where insects can be beneficial. One of these is the area of edible insects and insects for livestock feed. The institute has documented over 300 different species of edible insects across China and carried out studies into their nutritional make-up, health-giving properties and technologies f

It is readily apparent that the farming methods, particularly in regards to vegetable production which we saw the most of, while operating on the scale of multiple family farms, are intensive and industrial in nature. At one level these are clearly highly productive and the crops appear to be growing well with minimal weeds and very uniform results. However, on closer inspection it is clear that: The soil is in a very poor state There are major issues with agricultural run-of