• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.221-227
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• 2022

In accordance with Article 6 of the 「Insect Industry Promotion and Support Act」, the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences conducted a fact-finding investigation in the insect industry for related workers in 2020. Most commonly, insect industry workers were involved in production (98.5%), the male ratio was high (80.4%), while those in their 50s comprised 36.4% of the workers. As for the uses of industrial insects, 66.5% was for food and medicine, 12.7% for feed, and 20.7% as pets. The most commonly produced industrial insect species by use were the white-spotted flower chafer (69.6%), Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis (Kolbe), for food and medicine; crickets (31.2%) for feed; and the rhinoceros beetle (45.6%), Allomyrina dichotoma (Linnaeus), as pets. Powder was the most common product form at 68.5%, and live insects constituted 40.9%. Insect farms with an annual income accounted for 77.3%, of which 65.4% had annual sales of less than 20 million won. Market acquisition was rated by most insect industry workers (84.0%) as the primary challenge. In conclusion, although the number of people employed in the insect industry is increasing annually, the number of young insect farmers (20s to 40s) is decreasing. The production of industrial insects was limited to a few species, and more than half of insect farms have very low incomes. Furthermore, insect farms have the greatest difficulty in market acquisition, necessitating the development of utilization technology to promote the consumption of industrial insects.