Utilization of Insects as Bio-Resources and Its Possible Impact on Insect Biodiversity

in Korea

OHSEOK KWONKyungpook National University,

KOREA

ASIAHORCs, 2009

Introduction

• For the last 100 years, Earth has undergone dramatic changes. Natural and political landscapes are quite different than they were at the end of World War II.

• No country can escape from global environmental and socioeconomic changes, while local or regional development activities no longer remain localized but contribute to global issues.

• The loss of biodiversity indicated a warning sign on the sustainability of the human life-support system. The rapid increase of human population demands a continued economic development, and this in turn requires more exploitation of the remaining biodiversity (Western and Pearl 1989).

WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY?

• Biodiversity refers to the diversity of life (Wilson 1992) that is the integration of varieties and variation of all living organisms as related to their habitats and ecological complexes.

• Biodiversity is directly linked to human life. Most of what we consume as food derived from wild, and only a fraction of potentially economic species has been utilized.

• Therefore, extinction of species nowadays may include those species invaluable for human application and survival in the future.

Insects as Bio-Resources in Korea

• The recent proposal of the legislation on “Insect development and industrialization as bio-resources” in Korean National Assembly signifies how rapidly insect industry is developing in Korea.

• The balance between the utilization and the biodiversity conservation must be considered to keep natural biodiversity of Korean insects as well as to promote sustainable development of insect industry.

In the 1960’s – 1970’s- Bee Culture- Sericulture- Medical Use

In the present & future- Natural Enemies (Company)- Pollination Bee (Company & Yecheon)- Resources for Expos & Festivals (Local government)- Pet/Education insects (Farmers)- Functional food/medicine- Hygiene : Clean-up livestock and food wastes- Livestock feed- Bioethanol by microorganisms from digestive organs of white ant

Natural Enemy –Biological Control

• Since 1995, National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (NIAST), RDA, Suwon, Korea initiated insect biological control laboratory, and as a results, more than five companies dealing with insect biological control agents have been established.

• However, almost all of the natural enemies were introduced from abroad without proper bio-safety checks. This may have a long term ecological impact on natural insect ecosystem of Korea.

Korea IPM Co. Ltd.

Korea Beneficial Insects Lab Co. Ltd.(Anseong, Gyeonggi)

Nabis Co., Ltd.(Mungyeong, Gyeongbuk )

Huviron Co. Ltd.(Geochang, Gyeongnam )

Sesil Corp(Nonsan, Chungnam , Gokseong, Jeonnam) Total sales: $15 million

Koppert(Hanam, Gyeonggi)

KBIL

0

25

2007 2008 2010 2013

1 2

9.2

20

0.9 1.6

6.7

14.3

(1,000 ha)

Mark

et

Siz

e

Cultiv

ation

Are

a

($ 10 million)

5

10

15

Cultivation area Market size

Year

5

10

15

20

1868USA

The First Report on Natural

Enemy

1967Netherland

Application of Natural Enemies to

Agriculture

1997Korea

Domestic Natural Enemies Project

2002Korea

Commercialization

Control of Icerya purchasi by usingVedalia cardinalis

Mass production of Phytoseiuluspersimilis for biological control

Model project supported by Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MEFAFF)

Mass Production (Sesil Corp.)

In the 1980’sGeneral use of Natural Enemies for

Biological Control

Medicinal and Edible Insects

• For more than two thousand years, Koreans have been utilizing insects as food and medicine. The medical book, “Dong-Eui-Bo-Gam”, edited by Jun Hur in Yi Dynasty describes 95 species of insects as major ingredients.

• Nowadays, many of these insect species population have been greatly decreased due to many reasons such as urbanization, chemical use in agriculture, and climate changes. Almost all of these insects were now imported for the medicinal use from China, Thailand, and other countries.

• Restoring these insect species population not only help in keeping biodiversity of Korea, but also enabling to utilize them as sustainable bio-resources.

(Number)

0

20

40

60

8065

10 12

53

4

23

41

164

0

4

8

12

Insect

SalesEco-tour Total

7.4

3.5

10.9($ million)

The Current Status of Insect Cultivation Farm

# Farmers 228, Average Income $ 48,000, Total Sales $11 millionMarket Size $38.5 – 44 million (2006)

1960~1970’s

Bee Culture

Sericulture

Medical Use

1990~2000’s

Natural Enemy

Pollination Bee

Pet/Education

EXPOs

Future

Functional Food

Medicine

Clean-up livestock and Food wastes

Livestock feed

BIoethanol

Natural enemies

($8~9 million)

Pollination Bee

($10~11 million)

Pet insects ($38~40 million)

Event insect

($41 million)

-

Natural enemies

($123~143 million)

Pollination Bee

($17~30 million)

Pet Insect

($40 million)

Event Insect

($41 million)

Others

($90 million)

Year 2007 Year 2015~2020

$98~101 million$311~344 million

- Functional food/medicine

- Hygiene : Clean-up livestock and food wastes

- Livestock feed

Pollination

• The environmentally friendly farming method has been introduced in Korea since 1993, and pollination by western bumble bee became a common practice. However, this exotic species disturbed endemic bumble bee communities. The Ministry of Environment, Korea designated this species as Invasive Exotic species level II.

• Further research on the available and potential insect pollinators is recommended to ensure the productivity of local farming industry as well as keeping ecosystem equilibrium.

Dansan Co. Ltd.(Daegu)

Sesil Corp.(Nonsan, Chungnam , Gokseong, Jeonnam) Total sales: $15 million

Nabis Co., Ltd.(Mungyeong, Gyeongbuk )

Yechon Industrial Insect Research Institute(Yecheon, Gyeongbuk )

Pollination of Honeybee

Before ‘90

• Osmiacornifrons

• Bombusterrestis

• Bombusignitus

After ‘90

Mass production by Sesil Corp.

and Greenagrotec

Co.,Ltd

2005

1994 2002

Yecheon Industrial Insect Research Institute

100% Import Self- Supply

‘Nest of Bombiculture’

Insutitute of Industrial Entomologyin Yecheon County, Korea

‘Venture Company of Bombiculture’

Green Agro Tech Co., Korea

References• Kwon, O. 2000. Setting the ecosystem conservation standard by mea

suring biodiversity. Proceedings of the ILTER Joint seminar between Korea and China.

• Kwon, Y.J. 2000. Bombiculture : a fascinating insect industry for crop pollination in Korea International symposium: Trends on the development of insect resources in Korea & Abroad.

• Oh, B.J. 2008. Recent Trends and Perspectives of Insects Business in Korea. International symposium: Trends on the development of insect resources in Korea & Abroad.

• Western, D. and Pearl, M. 1989. Conservation for the Twenty-first century. New-York, Oxford University Press

• Wilson, E.O. 1992. The diversity of Life. Cambridge, Mass.. : The Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press.

Thank you for Your Attention!!!