SEC researcher wins Swiss Forum for International Agricultural Research Award
Adrian Fuhrmann of the SEC was recognised with the SFIAR Award for his previous work on the residues from black soldier fly rearing.
Adrian Fuhrmann, PhD Researcher at SEC, was honored for his research on the impact of the residues from black soldier fly rearing on the soil microbiome.
An Agricultural Scientist aiming to drive a sustainable transformation of the agri-food system, Adrian joined SEC in February 2022 as a PhD Researcher under the Intra-CREATE project on ‘Using black soldier flies in food waste management and sustainable food production in urban systems’.
He was now awarded for his previous MSc research, in which he examined the consequences of using residues from black soldier fly rearing as a plant fertiliser for the soil microbial community and soil fertility. The residues arise in large quantities when the larvae of the black soldier fly feed on organic waste. The larvae are used as a protein-rich animal feed. Utilising the residues from that process as a fertiliser is promising for fostering plant growth. However, the range of their effects still need to be better understood as a basis for employing them efficiently in agriculture. This research was published in the external pageFrontier of Microbiology journal.
This study was conducted under the supervision of the Sustainable Agroecosystems Group at ETH Zurich with support of the RUNRES project, seeking to improve circularity of food systems in African cities. The findings are relevant for his ongoing research on integrating black soldier fly larvae rearing into the urban space. external pageThis current research project is conducted in Singapore at the Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC) in collaboration with National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
More information on the award can be found on external pageSFIAR’s page.