Manure to insect farming for feed mitigates nitrogen and greenhouse gas emissions
9 affiliations
- 1State Key Laboratory of Soil Pollution Control and Safety, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- 2College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
- 3Biosphere Sciences and Engineering, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA 94035
- 4International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg A-2361, Austria
- 5Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s Eco-Environment, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
- 6Key Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
- 7Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108
- 8State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
- 9Policy Simulation Laboratory, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
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.
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BibTeX
@article{cheng2026manure,
title = {{Manure to insect farming for feed mitigates nitrogen and greenhouse gas emissions}},
author = {Luxi Cheng and Xiuming Zhang and Lorenzo Rosa and Chenchen Ren and Shaohui Zhang and Zhijian Zhang and Yi Yang and Wen Wang and Yi Gong and Yong-Guan Zhu and Baojing Gu},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1073/pnas.2604870123},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2604870123},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Manure to insect farming for feed mitigates nitrogen and greenhouse gas emissions
AU - Luxi Cheng
AU - Xiuming Zhang
AU - Lorenzo Rosa
AU - Chenchen Ren
AU - Shaohui Zhang
AU - Zhijian Zhang
AU - Yi Yang
AU - Wen Wang
AU - Yi Gong
AU - Yong-Guan Zhu
AU - Baojing Gu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/14
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2604870123
UR - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2604870123
AB - 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.
SN - 0027-8424
SN - 1091-6490
ER -