**3. Edible insect farming**

The rising demand for edible insects has generated a problem: how to produce more edible insects in a cost-effective, safe, and long-term manner [33]. Due to a shortage of availability, accessibility concerns arise, limiting prospects for increased trade [34]. This necessitates a technological shift from wild harvesting to indoor agriculture. Traditional and scientific understanding is necessary for the supply of insects through large-scale cultivation for this purpose [35].

Harvesting edible insect species at different phases from wild woods, fields, and waterways can provide huge diversity of edible bug species [36]. These cultivators have the knowledge and experience to determine the right timing, circumstances, and host vegetation to obtain precise culinary species while minimizing environmental impact [37]. Insects are primarily taken from fields for personal consumption, which has a minimum impact on the environment and helps keep insect populations stable over time. Practicing traditional insect harvesting has been done in Mexico prior to the pre-Hispanic period when insects were considered as an essential food source rather than pests, and more than 400 wild insect species were taken from terrestrial environments [38]. Harvesting varies by species and is dependent on the level of growth (eggs, pupae, larvae, or adults), season (rain or dry), and destination (forest, desert, or agricultural fields). For example, pupae of the ant species *Limetopum apicuatum* are gathered during the warm dry season (February to May) [39] and when the rainy season begins, grasshoppers of the species *Sphenarium purpurascen*s (chapulines) are physically picked from fields [34].

Many edible insects are affected by agricultural intensification, owing to mechanization, tree clearing, and pesticide use. Insect populations have declined worldwide as a result of pesticides, with a 67 percent reduction in invertebrate numbers in the previous 40 years [40]. If pesticide controls were removed, a specific grasshopper species' potential production in Mexico would earn about US\$350,000 in annual income and provide enough protein to feed nearly 9 million people [41].

Changes in the trophic chain are creating ecological degradation as a result of uncontrolled overharvesting [42]. Increased demand for a few insect species has resulted in more aggressive collecting tactics, with little regard for ensuring sustainable collection during reproductive periods—a practice that threatens to decrease or perhaps abolish native biodiversity [33]. Due to the extreme demands of honey ants and wood grubs, the adoption of energy approaches in agriculture could minimize or even eliminate the usage of pesticides, resulting in a positive environmental impact [32].

Because of the environmental and health dangers, more edible wild insect species are being semidomesticated in a more sustainable, less time-consuming, and consistent manner, mostly in traditional consumer countries where the warm, wet weather is suitable for cultivation [43]. Outdoor farming involves breeding insects in old trees, sawdust, and forest wastes, which can provide a semi-confined habitat as well as a food source. Bamboo caterpillars in Thailand mate in nylon net cages suspended

*Role of Edible Insects as Food Source to Combat Food Security Challenges – Innovative… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106809*

across developing bamboo stalks. Bamboo caterpillars are commonly sold in local markets in plastic boxes [33]. Semidomesticated bees are raised in wooden hives, ancient tree trunks, and other containers in Africa and Asia.

Many edible insect species are partially cultivated, but some are fully cultivated for a variety of reasons, including:

