การพัฒนาเทคนิคการเพาะเลี้ยงจิ้งหรีดบ้านในเชิงพาณิชย์

Abstract

The house cricket, Acheta domesticus (Linnaeus), is a highly nutritious insect. It has a short life cycle; can both quickly increase its population and generates more money for farmers. However, in the process of rearing crickets, farmers often lack some basic information either on cricket egg laying, suitable egg laying media for cricket rearing, and appropriate cricket population per area. This research studied was aimed to study the ovary development characteristics of adult female house crickets at 96 hours (4 days), it was found that ovaries were fertile, and this is the ready time for crickets to lay eggs. The cricket eggs are about 0.4 centimeters wide and 2.5 centimeters long. The house cricket lays about 1,795 eggs throughout its lifespan. It was also found that house crickets laid eggs during the night time (1,059 eggs) than during the day time (688 eggs). When comparing between daily egg collecting (856 eggs) and every other day egg collecting (867 eggs), there is no statistical difference. However, every other day eggs collecting requires less labor, and laying media costs. For the study of suitable egg laying media, it was found that peat moss was the most suitable egg laying of house crickets. Peat moss at 50 percent moisture content provided the maximum average eggs laid and more than 90 percent of the hatching rate. Raising house crickets in hiding materials of egg boards and kraft paper can make a survival rate more than 90 percent, a growth rate more than 80 percent, and a high average weight of adult house crickets. There is also a higher proportion of females than males. The laboratory analysis of aflatoxin and heavy metal contamination of egg board and kraft paper had found that the egg panels contained mercury (0.75) and lead (3.19) that exceeded the requirements for food contact paper products. For the house crickets rearing in hiding materials of kraft paper and egg boards, copper and zinc contamination were found in an amount which did not exceed the food standards of contaminants. The study on the suitable number of rearing house crickets area with 60 cm width, 120 cm length, and 60 cm height with egg-laying as a hiding material, it was found that the initial number of hatching was 10,000, and 12,000 per the rearing area can make high returns because the house crickets had more than 75 percent of survival rate, had a high cricket yield per rearing area, and a high average weight of adult crickets. The FCR (1.94%) and ECI (51.34%) were both acceptable levels.