A team of recent National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences graduates who started a business farming maggots as an alternative chicken feed and organic fertilizer have won an award from the Ministry of Education as well as sponsorship.
The team late last month earned the ministry’s startup capital award, sharing NT$5.2 million (US$166,000) with 11 other groups of young entrepreneurs.
Initiated by Huang Yan-ping and Yang Yung-hsin (楊詠馨), partners in business and in life, the team stood out from the crowd with their business model — growing and feeding maggots to broiler chickens.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Huang said the idea of using maggots as animal feed came from necessity, as the poultry and fish farming industries have been affected by the increasing cost of fish meal due to reduced fish catches and by the ineffectiveness of other substitutes.
“A maggot is highly nutritious and potentially marketable, so it is a plausible alternative to fish meal,” Huang said.
The team settled on maggots for their high content of animal protein, high reproducibility and high growth rate, Huang said, adding that maggot meal could be mass-produced at half the cost of fish meal.
“Maggot meal is rich in protein and a variety of amino acids, and can boost the immune system of farmed animals, which have shown improved stamina and activity after switching to the new formula,” Huang said.
After six months of business, the team came up with a tried-and-true business model — working with broiler farms in a symbiotic relationship. They recycle chicken manure by using it as maggot feed before feeding the maggots to chickens.
In addition to selling maggot meal and organic eggs produced by layer hens fed with maggots, the team has put forward other products, including an organic worm manure fertilizer, Huang said.
Maggots are usually associated with disease, death and crime scenes, but they can generate value if grown properly, Huang said.
“Everything has its worth if it can find its niche,” Huang said.
Yang said she was afraid of maggots at first, but she has grown used to them and even finds them adorable.
The team has generated enough revenue to retain employees, and they would like to expand their business and contribute to the Taiwanese agriculture, Yang said.
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