The effects on soil properties were studied following sugarcane burning during harvesting based on the analysis of soil properties and the number of microorganisms. The soil bacterial community structure was observed using metagenomics. It was found that burned sugarcane harvesting reduced the soil moisture and total nitrogen contents and decreased the numbers of bacterial fungi and actinomycetes. Furthermore, there were decreased numbers of nitrogen-fixing and phosphate-solubilizing bacteria beneficial to plants. The Firmicutes phylum (46.79) was found abundantly in the soil after burned sugarcane harvest. Paenibacillus (34.20) and Bacillus (9.19) were dominant at the genus level. On the other hand, in the soil after unburned sugarcane harvest, the diversity index was higher than that after burned sugarcane harvest. Actinobacteria (25.92) dominated at the phylum level, and Candidatus koribacter, Gaiella, Pseudolabrys, and Sphingomonas dominated at the genus level in the unburned plots. Changing the bacterial community resulted in a change in correlation with soil properties. Therefore, the impacts from burned sugarcane harvesting should be realized, specifically that soil physiochemical and biological properties are degraded (except for some groups of bacteria) along with their functions in the soil.

The chemical composition and amino acids (AA) digestibility were determined in insect meals from mealworms, crickets, black soldier fly (BSF) larvae and BSF prepupae, and soybean meal. Six caecectomised laying hens were individually housed in metabolism cages and fed either a basal diet or one of five assay diets. Diets and hens were arranged in a 6 × 6 Latin square design with 6 subsequent periods. In each period, the laying hens were fed their respective diet for 9 d, and excreta samples were quantitatively collected twice daily from day 5 to 8. On day 9, a sterile plastic bag was attached to the cloaca of each hen to collect excreta for microbiota analysis. The AA digestibility of the insect meals and soybean meal were calculated using a linear regression approach. Crude protein (CP) concentrations in crickets and mealworms were higher than the value in soybean meal, BSF prepupae and BSF larvae. Ether extract concentrations were high in the insect meals and low in the soybean meal. The digestibility of most essential AA in soybean meal was higher (p < 0.05) than in crickets and BSF prepupae and not different from AA digestibility in mealworms and BSF larvae (except for arginine and histidine). The gene copy number of Escherichia coli in excreta from hens fed with BSF prepupae was lower (p < 0.05) than those fed with BSF larvae, whereas the gene copy number of Bacillus spp. and Clostridium spp. in excreta from hens fed with crickets was lower (p < 0.05) than those fed with BSF larvae. In conclusion, the chemical composition and AA digestibility varied among insect meals based on insect species and life stage. The high level of AA digestibility of insect meals supports the assessment that insect meals are a suitable feed component for laying hens, but differences in AA digestibility should be considered in diet formulation.

Information to aid the selection of suitable cultivated areas remains meager for mung bean, despite it being a socio-economically important legume crop in Thailand. Hence, a user-friendly soil assessment tool is required to help properly choose planting areas. We aimed to provide a decision support system for mung bean cultivation in central Thailand. Soil suitability classes were performed using relevant factors and data essential for mung bean cultivation in 22 provinces in central Thailand. A decision support system was developed as soil map and mobile phone application using data based on soil suitability classes. Information of mung bean growth and yield grown in experimental fields with different soil suitability classes was used for preliminary validation. The main areas were very suitable (S1) and moderately suitable (S3) for mung bean plantation, accounting for 1,319,841 and 1,327,804 ha, respectively. The number of pods per plant and yield per plant of mung bean were higher in S1 areas (12.83–16.65 pods per plant and 8.35–12.43 g/plant, respectively) than in S3 areas. The mung bean yield was also greater in S1 areas (1613.8–2158.7 kg/ha) than in S3 areas (735.8–1138.6 kg/ha). The findings suggest the possibility of using developed decision support system.

Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) and duckweed are potential alternative feed ingredients for sustainable poultry production. This study aimed to determine the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of amino acids (AAs) in BSFL, Lemna, and Spirodela compared with soybean meal and rapeseed meal. Six cages of eighteen broiler chickens were allocated to each treatment. The crude protein (CP) content was highest in soybean meal (511 g/kg dry matter; DM), intermediate in BSFL (391 g/kg), and rapeseed meal (335 g/kg DM) and lowest in Lemna (185 g/kg DM) and Spirodela (145 g/kg DM). Ether extract was highest in BSFL (95 g/kg DM), whereas crude fiber was highest in Lemna (109 g/kg DM) and Spirodela (171 g/kg DM). The SID of CP was higher (p < 0.05) in BSFL (89.0%) than in soybean meal (82.3%), rapeseed meal (71.3%), Lemna (70.2%), and Spirodela (44.9%). The SID of all essential amino acids (AAs) was higher (p < 0.05) in Lemna than in Spirodela, but it did not differ from that in rapeseed meal. In conclusion, the high fat content in BSFL can enhance AA digestibility, whereas the use of duckweed may be limited by its fiber fractions, which negatively impact the SID of CP and AAs in broiler chickens.