The current invent relates to the construction and application of a three-line breeding system in the Peruvian scallopbay scallop southern subspecies hybrids. The said three-line consists of a male sterile line, a maintainer line and a restorer line. A combination of male sterile line and maintainer line is obtained by continuously backcrossing the male sterile individuals selected from F.sub.1 inter-specific hybrid families with sperm of the selfing family of the sperm-providing bay scallops until the progenies are all male sterile. The restorer line is obtained by continuously backcrossing selected individuals from the male sterile line with sperm of the selfing family of a bay scallop until the progenies are all hermaphroditic and exhibit excellent production traits. Commercial male sterile brood stocks are produced by backcrossing the male sterile line with the maintainer line and commercial hybrid spats are produced by backcrossing the male sterile line and the restorer line.

The present invention in general relates to the field of biological crop protection by use of phytoseiid predatory mites. More particularly the present invention relates to a system for releasing a phytoseiid predatory mite in a crop and novel uses of host mites in such phytoseiid predatory mite releasing system. The phytoseiid predatory mite releasing system according to the invention and the uses according to the invention are characterised by the selection a host mite species having an intrinsic growth rate (r.sub.m) of <0.28.

A system, method, and computer program product for an aquaponics, and greenhouse system, including a solar greenhouse insulated on north, east and west sides and with glazing on a south side at an angle to maximize winter sunlight, and housing: a fish tank; grow beds coupled to the fish tank; and hydroponic tanks respectively coupled to the grow beds. The grow beds are coupled to a fish tank geyser pump internal to the fish tank, and a hydroponic tank geyser pump internal to a respective one of the hydroponic tanks. The fish tank and hydroponic tank geyser pumps are powered by an external air pump via an air selector switch to pump and aerate water from the hydroponic tank to the grow bed and to pump water from the fish tank to the grow bed and aerate water of the fish tank.

A process includes microbially degrading harvested polyculture plant material to form a concentrated microbial biomass and providing the concentrated microbial biomass to an intermediary animal for consumption. The process may also be directed to producing a product animal which includes providing a growth area having an outlet for waste and providing a harvested plant material collection area having an outlet for degradation products. The process may also include providing a microbial growth system for producing a bacterial biomass and directing at least some waste from the outlet of the product animal growth area to the harvested plant material collection area. The process may also include directing at least some degradation products to the microbial growth system, directing some of the microbial biomass produced in the microbial growth system to an intermediary animal for consumption, and directing the intermediary animal to a product animal growth area.

The present invention relates to a modified Slmyc2 gene, which may comprise at least one modification as compared to the wild type sequence of SEQ ID No. 5, which modification leads to the reduction or absence of SlMYC2 protein activity, wherein the modified Slmyc2 gene is capable of conferring an aberrant glandular hair phenotype to a Solanum lycopersicum plant. The modification may be suitably selected from a modification that decreases the mRNA level of the Slmyc2 gene, a modification that decreases the level of the SlMYC2 protein and/or a modification that decreases the activity of the SlMYC2 protein, as compared to the wild type Slmyc2 gene of SEQ ID No. 5.

The present invention relates to a non-destructive method for quantitatively determining at least one performance indicator in rearing a population of live insects in a complex medium, the method comprising the following steps: (i) a step of irradiating the complex medium comprising the population of live insects with a light comprising one or more wavelengths within a range from 420 nm to 2500 nm, (ii) a step of collecting the light reflected by the complex medium to obtain a reflectance spectrum of the medium; and (iii) a step of correlating said spectrum with a quantitative value of at least one performance indicator. The present invention also relates to the uses of the method and to the use of a spectrophotometer to quantitatively determine at least one performance indicator of a population of live insects in a complex medium.

An insect farming installation comprises: a module comprising continuous profiled containers, each continuous profiled containers being configured to be filled with substrate containing larvae, wherein the continuous profiled containers are vertically superimposed to one another, and wherein at least some of the containers are configured to be filled with substrate in a way adapted to maximize an age difference of the larvae contained in the substrates respectively filling two consecutive containers, and wherein the containers are at least partially made with a thermally conductive material.

A method of compressing insects includes loading an insect container into a retainer. The method further includes adding a population of insects to an interior volume of a compression device. The method further includes adding a foam section to the interior volume of the compression device. The method further includes compressing the interior volume of the compression device and transferring the population of insects and the foam section from the interior volume of the compression device to the insect container.

The present invention relates to an automated system in which the entire process, from breeding to processing, of breeding the larvae of an insect and at the same time sterilizing and drying the bred larvae so that the larvae can be used as an alternative raw material such as fish meal, is monitored by a management system and operated by only a small number of workforces. The automated system for breeding and processing larvae, according to the present invention, automates all of a series of processes including processing processes such as spawning, hatching, breeding, sterilization and drying of an insect, and thus simultaneously has effects such as manpower reduction, cost reduction, energy reduction, food waste treatment and securing hygiene that are required for breeding and processing and has the effect of enabling improved larvae breeding and processing.

A closed-loop method for the continuous production of biochar and nutrients. High-moisture content feedstock and black soldier flies are placed within a breeding room to produce young black soldier fly larvae (BSFL). High-moisture content feedstock and a first portion of the young BSFL are placed within a growing room to produce leachate, mature BSFL, and frass. The mature BSFL can be separated from the frass and processed to produce dried BSFL, BSFL oil, BSFL meal, BSFL puree, or a combination thereof. A first portion of the frass undergoes pyrolysis to produce biochar and heat. The biochar can be utilized within the feedstock, to produce a frass end product, as a biochar end product, or a combination thereof. The heat can be utilized in the at least one breeding room, in the at least one growing room, to process the frass, or a combination thereof.