{
  "abstract": "Livestock manure is nutrient-rich and represents a promising feedstock for insect farming, with insect protein offering a high-quality alternative to conventional crop-based livestock feed. This pathway has substantial potential to mitigate nitrogen (N) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from livestock systems. Here, we integrate global livestock models with trade, land-use, and cost–benefit analysis to quantify the environmental and economic implications of manure-to-insect conversion while ensuring the recycling of manure to croplands to maintain soil fertility across 166 countries. We show that insect farming could yield approximately 4.2 (3.4 to 5.5) million tonnes (Mt) N of insect protein to substitute crop-based feed and release up to 45 million hectares of cropland. This transition could reduce N and GHG emissions by 6.0 (5.5 to 6.8) Mt N and 1,277 (1,081 to 1,634) Mt CO2-e, respectively, during feed cultivation and manure storage. The residual manure, after insect processing, can be returned to fields as a high-quality organic fertilizer, offsetting 25 Mt N of synthetic fertilizers. With an estimated implementation cost of 25 billion USD, this strategy could deliver combined economic and environmental benefits of 226 billion USD. These results position manure-based insect farming as a cost-effective and circular solution to enhance global food system resilience under environmental pressures.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "State Key Laboratory of Soil Pollution Control and Safety, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China",
    "College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China",
    "Biosphere Sciences and Engineering, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA 94035",
    "International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg A-2361, Austria",
    "Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China",
    "Key Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China",
    "Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108",
    "State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China",
    "Policy Simulation Laboratory, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 11,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Luxi Cheng"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Xiuming Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Lorenzo Rosa"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Chenchen Ren"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Shaohui Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Zhijian Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Yi Yang",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0600-602X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Wen Wang",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5100-8315"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Yi Gong"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Yong-Guan Zhu",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3861-8482"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        8
      ],
      "name": "Baojing Gu",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3986-3519"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dy7j26q91ettt.bib",
  "cited_by": 1,
  "doi": "10.1073/pnas.2604870123",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13624648/",
  "id": "dy7j26q91ettt",
  "issns": [
    "0027-8424",
    "1091-6490"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2604870123",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "9"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Sdg-13-Climate-Action"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Sdg-2-Zero-Hunger"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Social Sciences"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Sustainability Science"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1109|Insect Utilization and Effects"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7163868753",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13624648",
  "pmid": "42735331",
  "published": "2026-09-14",
  "publisher": "National Academy of Sciences",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dy7j26q91ettt.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-01T12:23:33Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13624648",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2604870123"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:1109|Insect Utilization and Effects",
      "subfield": "zoology-behaviour"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Manure to insect farming for feed mitigates nitrogen and greenhouse gas emissions",
  "title_text": "Manure to insect farming for feed mitigates nitrogen and greenhouse gas emissions",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-02T12:20:47Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dy7j26q91ettt",
  "venue": "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",
  "versions": []
}