BANGKOK - A couple in north-eastern Thailand are augmenting their teaching salaries by raising Patanga grasshoppers, also known as Bombay locusts, to sell their eggs and meat.
Mr Somphong said he and his wife, Ms Maneewan, 51, who is also a teacher, have long been trying to find second jobs to generate the income they need to cover the expenses of raising two young daughters. He bought 100g of grasshopper eggs for 1,000 baht, which can produce around 500 grasshoppers, and raised them in a homemade shed fashioned from mosquito netting measuring 3m by 4m, and 2m in height. The ground must be covered with sand mixed with wet coconut coir, banana leaves or cut grass.
After 45 days, they will stop laying eggs. The farmer will then sell them for meat and start a new batch of eggs.