Cockroach farming

They can be raised as a food source for humans, as feed for non-human animals such as lizards, or sold to the pharmaceutical industry for use in medicine.

The cockroaches are often killed in vats of boiling water before being dried, and, depending on their purpose, they may be crushed, ready for processing.

Prospective farmers are able to obtain how-to kits to begin their farming venture, while larger companies are able to produce billions of cockroaches every year.

[1] A potion made from cockroaches (Kangfuxin Ye) is taken by millions of people in China, where the local authorities claim they have "remarkable effects".

Environmental and humanitarian concerns make certain ingredients derived from animal products increasingly difficult to obtain.

[2] Run by the Good Doctor Pharmaceutical Group, the company uses artificial intelligence systems to monitor the conditions in the farm.

[4][5] The growth of the industry in China has been helped by the lack of government regulation, with companies free to begin in most suitable environments if they have a licence to breed bugs.

Gathering the insects is also a relatively simple process; they can easily be vacuumed out of their nests, drowned in a vat of boiling water, and then dried in the sun.