Notes on Recommendations for Enabling Policy Interventions in the Seaweed Cultivation and Processing Domain in India
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. The Indian Seaweed Farming and Processing Sector: An Overview
3. Conscious Efforts by the Government of India, Research Organizations, and Industry to Promote Seaweed Farming and Downstream Processing
4. Recommendations
- Establishment of self-help groups (SHGs) and fisheries co-operatives in all of the coastal states and UT, and connecting them with the seaweed processing industry.
- Currently, permission is required from several state departments to start commercial farming and establishment of new entrepreneurs. There should be a single agency that grants permission to undertake commercial farming.
- Demarcation of specific cultivation areas along the coast and establishment of permanent anchoring systems for undertaking commercial cultivation. This is required, as currently fisherman everywhere except Tamil Nadu establish new anchors after every monsoon as their cultivation grounds are located in deeper waters, which adds to the cost. It should be noted that the targeted area required to achieve 1 million tonnes of fresh seaweed has been estimated to be as much as1600 ha (considering only Kappaphycus as a farmed species).
- Identification of beneficiaries who can undertake commercial seaweed farming as their full-time livelihood. They should only be from fishing communities, and preferably residing along the coastline. There should be involvement of one person with their own boat (men) for every five seed workers (women). The idea is that women would prepare seedling ropes, tubes, and rafts, while men would be involved in anchoring, maintenance, and harvesting operations. This way, there will be a division of labor and clarity in the work component.
- Supply of adequate infrastructure such as bamboo, ropes, tube nets, etc., to the beneficiaries (45 rafts or equivalent) is essential for the success of project. As rafts tend to last longer, and tube nets and ropes used for tying tubes need to be replaced after each use, they also need to be supplied to the beneficiaries every time through a suitable mechanism. This is a new project, and our experience shows that when fishermen do the activity for the first time they do not tend to procure the second set of tube nets on their own, and abandon the activity. As this would be a completely new venture for most of the beneficiaries involved in the project, developing a mechanism for obtaining tube nets is critical for the success of the project.
- Availability of viable, locally produced/acclimatized seed is the prerequisite for the success of this project. Sustainable and adequate seed production is the critical component for successful cultivation; thus, seedling facilities/nurseries/brood banks need to be established. To start with, there should be two each in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, and one each in Andaman and Lakshadweep. In the rest of the states, depending on their involvement and progress, such facilities can be established as needed. It should be noted that seed should not be transported in bulk quantities and in the form of mature thalli, as the survivability of such seed is as low as 10%. The seeds should be small (no more than 5 cm) and should be transported in a moist seawater environment only through air cargo. As the construction of such facilities by government agencies comes with its own set of procedures and regulations, it is advisable to identify big industries and have them carry out the construction through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.
- Expansion of farming in the country requires coordinated efforts. The identification of conducive pockets at the pan-Indian level is critical. CSIR-CSMCRI has prepared a proposal for this project and submitted it to the ministry, which can be taken up in collaboration with institutes that are engaged in this type of work as a national mission.
- Capacity building in seaweed farming, post-harvest technologies, and production is essential. CSIR-CSMCRI has proposed and successfully demonstrated a decentralized model in Tamil Nadu, which should be adopted at the pan-Indian level so that the benefits will reach farmers.
- The ambitious biomass production target needs careful planning for processing. Other than three big companies each for agar, alginate, and carrageenan, there are 46 agar and alginate processing industries in and around Madurai. However, they work on the cottage scale, and require land and infrastructure. Their facilities also need to be upgraded, and all of these industries and their production capacity should be modernized based on the latest techniques developed for the processing of biomass, including zero-liquid-discharge technologies. Capacity building in processing also needs to be undertaken.
- Seaweed sap acts as a plant bio-stimulant, and has been shown to be potent for agricultural use to improve yields by 11–37% in a pan-Indian study. It has also been shown to reduce the chemical fertilizer requirement by 25%. Therefore, this needs to be taken up by all state agriculture departments, especially in the northeastern states, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. This should be included in the recommended package by states to their farmers. It should be noted that from 1 million tonnes of fresh seaweed, at 60% sap yield, 600 million liters of bio-stimulant can be produced, with which 15 million ha (~10% of net arable land in India) can be covered (assuming 40 l/ha). Industry should thus easily absorb these volumes, and will have tremendous scope to export it as well.
- Despite good diversity and demand for agarophyte biomass in the country, along with the availability of viable farming technologies for at least 4–5 species, commercial farming has not yet been taken up in the country. The most important reasons for this are traditional and rudimentary processing techniques (to improve this, recommendations are already given above), low-quality biomass naturally collected—mostly from islands in the Gulf of Mannar—and the low price of the biomass. This vicious cycle can be broken only though linking the prices to product specifications. The specifications for agar and alginate are available for our country, which were fixed 40–60 years prior. New product specifications are desired, and need immediate attention. More categories also need to be incorporated into the existing standards, and the prices should be linked to these specifications. Moreover, these should be treated as the minimum price of procurement.
- Currently there is a ban on the export of seaweed biomass, which needs to be removed. This ban should be only removed for cultivated material, as this would give impetus to farming rather than natural collection, which is an unsustainable practice.
- By considering the implementation of large-scale farming in India, there would be a lot of waste material produced due to old/used infrastructure. A proper disposal protocol needs to be developed for this, to prevent environmental issues.
- As commercial seaweed farming is subject to the vagaries of nature, cyclones, disease, and rain are the common impediments that might impede the prospects of the farming business. The beneficiaries should be given crop insurance (as with other plant crops) to sustain the interest of fishermen in this activity.
- Additionally, algal food is an emerging area, and focus also needs to be given for processing the biomass of cultivated species for processed food and value addition in the edible sector. The seaweeds that can be directly consumed should also be evaluated on a pilot scale; land-based cultivation needs to be encouraged, as it has more control of environmental and quality parameters. The products need to be evaluated for edibility, nutritional composition, medicinal or nutraceutical properties, bacterial flora, heavy metal toxicity, etc. The processing also needs to be scaled up. The national policy and standards also need to be developed separately for the edible seaweed sector.
5. Proposal for Establishing a Multipurpose Seaweed Park in Tamil Nadu
- A.
- Upstream (seaweed-farming-related components):
- ○
- Establishment of the seed bank in the sea.
- ○
- Land-based pilot-scale seaweed seedling production for Kappaphycus alvarezii, Gracilaria edulis, Gracilaria debilis, and edible seaweeds for promoting extensive farming along the Tamil Nadu coast.
- ○
- Establishment of seaweed cultivation farms with all economically important species for demonstration and training purposes.
- B.
- Downstream (product-processing-related components):
- ○
- Pilot-scale integrated processing plants for sap, carrageenan, and agar for demonstration and training purposes.
- ○
- Processing units for edible seaweeds.
- ○
- Facilities for the authentication /certification of products and quality control conforming to standards.
- ○
- Provision of ETP plants.
- ○
- Enabling facilities such as water, electricity, sewage, and disposal systems for the industries to flourish.
- C.
- Knowledge/information bank and training facilities:
- ○
- Digital map showing the seaweed diversity of Indian maritime states and union territories.
- ○
- A one-stop comprehensive information center (and website) on the range of seaweed-based technologies and products.
- ○
- A museum and repository of live seaweed samples, plus a herbarium.
- ○
- A seaweed cultivation skilling center for hands-on training linked to entrepreneurship and job creation.
- ○
- Hostel/guest house (international standard) facilities for trainees and visiting staff.
- ○
- Conference and auditorium facilities.
6. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Major Event/Task | Stake-Holder * | Date |
---|---|---|
Brain Storming Session on Seaweed Cultivation and Utilisation (Sea CU) | TIFAC/CSIR-CSMCRI/universities/ industries | 27 November 2017 |
India Seaweed Summit 2018 | CSIR-CSMCRI/ICC | 28 February 2018 |
Prospects of Seaweed Cultivation in India: Pan-India Mapping of Possible Locations (Including Gulf Regions) for Seaweed Cultivation Including with Speciation (which Species Can Grow or Recommended at a Given Place) | NITI Aayog/CSIR-CSMCRI | 18 October 2018 |
Regarding Preparation of Quality Standards for Deliberations on Suitable Regulatory Authority and Benchmark for Seaweed Production and Usage | NITI Aayog/CSIR-CSMCRI | 28 December 2018 |
The Detailed Cost: Benefit Analysis of Seaweed Cultivation and Processing | NITI Aayog/CSIR-CSMCRI | 28 December 2018 |
India International Seaweed Expo & Summit 2019 | CSIR-CSMCRI/ICC | 22–24 January 2019 |
Deliberations on Ascertaining Commercial Farming of Kappaphycus alvarezii along the Buffer Zones of Gulf of Mannar Marine National Parks: Environmental Implications | CSIR-CSMCRI/ICAR-CMFRI/ NCSCM | 28 August 2019 |
Promotion of Seaweed Cultivation in India: Discussions Held under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Member (Agriculture), NITI Aayog | NITI Aayog/other stakeholders | 20 September 2019 |
Visit of NITI Aayog to Meet Chief Secretary, Govt of Tamil Nadu; Officials of Fisheries Department; Tamil Nadu and Visit to Commercial Cultivation Areas in and Around Mandapam | NITI Aayog/other stakeholders | 12–13 November 2019 |
Third India International Seaweed Expo and Summit | CSIR-CSMCRI/ICC | 30–31 January 2020 |
National Consultation on Promotion of Seaweed Cultivation, Processing, Export and Marketing | MoFAHD | 24 August 2020 |
International Webinar Entrepreneurship Development on Seaweed Business by Co-Operatives | MoFAHD, MoAFW/NEDAC/other stakeholders | 28 January 2021 |
Seaweed Mission | TIFAC/other stakeholders | 6 February 2021 |
Inclusion of Bio-stimulants Including Seaweed Extracts Vide Amendment in Fertilizer (Inorganic, Organic or Mixed) (Control) Order, 1985 through Gazette Notification | MoAFW | 23 February 2021 |
Holistic Development of Islands Especially Lakshadweep (Agatti, Kalpeni, Kadmat, Bitra and Chetlat) though Establishment of India’s Largest Seaweed Cultivation Farm Along with Processing of Value Added Products | NITI Aayog/other stakeholders | 23 March 2021 |
Seaweed Cultivation off the Tamil Nadu Coast | MoEFCC/CSIR-CSMCRI/ICAR-CMFRI/NCSCM | 13 April 2021 |
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Mantri, V.A.; Ghosh, A.; Eswaran, K.; Ganesan, M. Notes on Recommendations for Enabling Policy Interventions in the Seaweed Cultivation and Processing Domain in India. Sustainability 2022, 14, 10416. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610416
Mantri VA, Ghosh A, Eswaran K, Ganesan M. Notes on Recommendations for Enabling Policy Interventions in the Seaweed Cultivation and Processing Domain in India. Sustainability. 2022; 14(16):10416. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610416
Chicago/Turabian StyleMantri, Vaibhav A., Arup Ghosh, K. Eswaran, and M. Ganesan. 2022. "Notes on Recommendations for Enabling Policy Interventions in the Seaweed Cultivation and Processing Domain in India" Sustainability 14, no. 16: 10416. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610416