ABSTRACT The rapid expansion of swine production has increased environmental concerns related to nutrient pollution and improper manure management. Black soldier fly (BSF) larvae offer a promising bioconversion approach, producing frass that may serve as a sustainable organic fertiliser. This study evaluated the vegetative phase performance of BSF frass derived from swine manure (BSF swine manure frass) compared to BSF frass from food waste (BSF general frass), NPK fertiliser, commercial compost and an unfertilized control on chilli ( Capsicum annuum ) growth and soil epigeic macro‐arthropod communities. Plant growth responded strongly to fertiliser treatments, with significant effects of treatment, time and their interaction on plant height ( p < 0.001), and both treatment and time significantly influenced leaf number. By the final observation, NPK and BSF swine manure frass produced the greatest plant height (28.8 ± 2.11 cm and 27.13 ± 1.89 cm, respectively) and highest leaf counts, while the control remained the lowest for all growth parameters. Soil epigeic macro‐arthropods representing detritivores, herbivores and predators occurred across all treatments, though temporal variation was more pronounced than treatment effects. GLM analyses indicated that detritivore abundance was driven primarily by temporal dynamics, with treatment effects emerging through time, while predator abundance differed significantly among fertiliser treatments ( p = 0.022). Herbivore abundance increased significantly over time ( p < 0.001). NMDS ordination indicated substantial overlap among treatments (stress = 0.16), and although PERMANOVA detected significant effects of treatment and sampling week ( F = 3.32, R 2 = 0.599, p = 0.001), ANOSIM showed no evidence of treatment‐based community separation ( R = −0.1046, p = 0.98). Overall, BSF swine manure frass demonstrated potential to enhance chilli plant growth comparable to NPK fertiliser, while short‐term application resulted in only subtle changes in soil epigeic macro‐arthropod communities, indicating minimal short‐term ecological impacts.
Yudistira et al. (Tue,) studied this question.