Notes on Recommendations for Enabling Policy Interventions in the Seaweed Cultivation and Processing Domain in India

Abstract

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations ranks India at 13th position with 5300 wet tones of seaweed harvest (0.2% of global production). The domestic micro or medium enterprises still overwhelmingly rely on wild harvest for feedstock. The production of hydrocolloids and bio stimulants for agriculture has been the main product portfolio for the last several decades. Nevertheless, with 7516.6 km of coastline, this sector holds enormous promise for sustainable economic development. The strong “Innovation Quotient” proved to be the crucial driving force to develop several novel products backed up with intellectual property rights. Appreciable steps have been taken by the Union Government of India to give further fillip to the marine sector through different forums to achieve a sustainable and circular Blue Economy. The purpose of this thematic article is to collate the state-of-the-art information on the cultivation and processing sector in the country, and to provide recommendations for evidence-based sector management and policy decision making. The proposal of establishing a “Multipurpose Seaweed Park”—the first of its kind in the world—in Tamil Nadu is a very pertinent first step towards the cause of modernizing and improving the domestic industries, adopting improved processing and sustainable and green technologies. The analysis revealed that in order to fulfill these objectives, more coordinated efforts of several stakeholders are necessary, along with the cooperation of different government departments and industry participation. The lessons learned would help in furthering our collaboration with countries of the Indian Ocean region and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, for mutual benefit.

1. Introduction

Global seaweed production reports augmentation of 32.39 million tones of fresh weight of seaweed, worth USD 13.3 billion. Of this, about 97.1% (31.5 million tonnes) comes from aquaculture, while the rest 2.9% (0.9 million tonnes) is collected from the wild [1]. It should be noted that over 200 seaweeds are traditionally harvested from the wild in 32 different countries; however, technologies for commercial-scale cultivation have been perfected for only 12 of these taxa [2,3]. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that Indonesia, Chile, and the Republic of Korea dominated the seaweed export in 2018, while China, Japan, and the United States of America were the leading importers [1]. The biggest application segment of the seaweed trade is composed of feedstock for food for human consumption, and currently contributes to about 77.6% of volume and 88.3% of value. The second-largest application segment is represented by hydrocolloids as texturing and thickening agents for various commodity products. This is represented by only 11.4% in terms of volume and 10.8% of the value. Nevertheless, an emerging trend in the phyco-supplement industry has been registered, contributing 11% of volume and 0.9% of value [4]. The global seaweed market value forecast anticipates the seaweed-based market to reach USD 21.75–26.1 billion atan8.51–10.8% compound annual growth rate by 2025.

The seaweed aquaculture industry is undergoing rapid expansion by creating new jobs, primarily in emerging economies and developing nations. The policy perspectives are highly essential. A comprehensive policy safeguarding the future of the global seaweed aquaculture industry has been prepared by the United Nations University, Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), along with the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS). The document highlights critical issues that need immediate attention to facilitate the long-term sustainability of this industry, which is an integral part of the “blue ocean economy” agenda [5]. Nevertheless, more emphasis has been given to policies related to the bio-security of resources for the carrageenan industry, which represents more than 42% of global production [6]. However, a national institutional framework is required that can help in the improvement of overall international policies pertaining to this specialized but important domain. Although regional policy efforts are in place in several countries, they have been not well documented in the literature, e.g., a study has documented risk perceptions and risk management strategies pertaining to the Philippine seaweed industry [7]. A multi-criteria decision analysis interpreting stakeholders’ multidimensional perceptions of policy implementation gaps in the small-scale Chilean seaweed aquaculture sector revealed diverging opinions on economic, technological, and environmental topics among the counterparts [8]. It should be noted that policy documentation for regional and national management is pivotal in achieving improved international policies for sustainable development and a Blue Economy.

We consider that the seaweed sector in India is in its nascent stage; the Government of India has recognized that despite the techno-economic ease of its intensification compared to other aquaculture sectors, the seaweed production potential of the country and valorization of the biomass have not been explored in the way they deserve. To tap the existing potential in a well-planned and coordinated manner, enabling policy interventions is necessary. This thematic paper provides comprehensive coverage of key areas of seaweed farming and its accessory industrial development. This is the first effort to provide critical recommendations that are the most important elements for promoting inclusive economic growth in coastal rural settings. This article is structured and organized into the following themes: (1) overview of the farming and processing sector; (2) efforts by various stakeholders to promote this sector for maximizing the accrued benefits; (3) policy recommendations for evidence-based sector management and policy decision making (including a brief on the “Multipurpose Seaweed Park” to be established in Tamil Nadu); and (4) conclusions. These sections provide a brief description for clear understanding of each of the subject areas.

2. The Indian Seaweed Farming and Processing Sector: An Overview

According to recent FAO statistics, India stands at 13th position, with 5300 wet tonnes of seaweed harvest, corresponding to only 0.2% of the global seaweed production (Supplementary Table S1). India has 7516.6 km of coastline, passing through nine maritime states and two union territories. This stretch harbors 4 million fishermen living in 3288 locations. There are only 46 agar- and alginate-producing industries in India. These are mostly small fishing villages of 70 coastal districts. The last few decades have witnessed resource degradation, poverty, and marginalization in the fisheries sector. By considering 193,834 km² of territorial waters (up to 12 nautical miles) accessible to artisanal fishermen, the prospects of taking up commercial seaweed farming at the pan-Indian level are significant. The CSIR (Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute) takes pride in heralding the commercial farming of Kappaphycus alvarezii in India. According to a survey carried out by the Aquaculture Foundation of India, the country is fast emerging as an important seaweed production center in Southeast Asia, with an estimated 765 thousand man-days of employment, having annual turnover of around INR 2 billion [8].

India stands at 13th in the list of “Global Seaweed Producers”, with 5300 tonnes of fresh weight corresponding to 0.02% of total production in 2018 [1]. Most small- and medium-scale production units are located in South India (in and around Madurai, Tamil Nadu). The methods of processing the feedstock are rudimentary, and often carried out by family-run enterprises (Figure 1a–c).

It should be noted that of the demand for carrageenan is approximately 500 tonnes year⁻¹, and indigenous production is only 50–60 tonnes year⁻¹ [9]. Similarly, for agar, the demand is 400 tonnes year⁻¹, and barely 150 tonnes year⁻¹ is being produced in the country [10]. The scenario for alginate is also similar—the demand is about 1000–2000 tonnes year⁻¹, and barely 250–300 tonnes year⁻¹ is being produced [11]. Thus, seaweed hydrocolloids are being imported for domestic needs. Johnson and Ignatius [12] have reported that to cater to this demand, 4000 tonnes of dry agarophyte, 5000 tonnes of dry alginophyte, and 4500–6000 tonnes of dry carragenophyte feedstock are needed. Moreover, our globally patented technology (US Patent No.6893479B2) to produce bio-stimulants for agricultural applications (Figure 2) and hydrocolloids for the food processing sector leveraging the same biomass has brought considerable changes in the domestic sector related to cultivation as well as processing [13].

Furthermore, the chemical modification of polysaccharides has been found to be responsible for imparting several functional properties to derive different products and materials with novel functions [14]. This has paved new avenues for the processing of the feedstock. The bio-stimulant has been evaluated across 20 states in India through 43 state agricultural universities and ICAR institutes, wherein it was demonstrated to enhance the yields of several crops by 11–37% compared to the recommended dose of chemical fertilizers (Figure 3). Since then, the bio-stimulant has been well accepted by the farmers, and is marketed by the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (IFFCO), New Delhi under the brand name “Sagarika”. The use of this product can enable the farmers to reduce chemical fertilizer consumption by up to 25%. In a recent policy intervention, the seaweed-based bio-stimulant has been brought under the ambit of the Fertilizer Control Order (FCO) of the Government of India, and will henceforth be regulated under this act. Being of nascent origin, the procedures established under the FCO must continuously evolve based on the latest scientific evidence, experience, and the needs of the country.

However, after nearly 10 years of continuous farming and two consecutive drought years during which the seawater temperature reached unprecedented high levels, the planting material, which is propagated only through vegetative growth, is showing signs of fatigue. During the last 5 years, the production of K. alvarezii has dramatically fallen due to low or stunted growth that has affected the available planting material [9]. As a result of low growth, the cultivators who opted for it as their alternative livelihood are facing a serious challenge, as their incomes are falling below sustainable levels.

Though India’s contribution—in terms of both production and revenue (including import)—to the seaweed products is abysmally low (<1%), the long coastline this nation has provides enormous opportunity and potential for establishing several seaweed-based industries that are expected to have several downstream implications in food, energy, health, and agricultural productivity, among others. Furthermore, studies carried out by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) and Central Avian Research Institute (CARI) in collaboration with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has clearly established the beneficial impact of seaweeds for animal health and productivity [15,16]. Another promising lead is biodegradable film produced from semi-refined kappa-carrageenan [17]. Nevertheless, ICAR-CMFRI has recently developed Cadalmin TM Green Algal extract (Cadalmin TM GAe), anti-diabetic extract (Cadalmin TM ADe), and antihypertensive extract (Cadalmin TM AHe) as nutraceutical products for joint pain/arthritis, type 2 diabetes, and hypertensive disorders, respectively. It should be noted that M/s. Pioneer Pharmaceuticals Limited, Kochi, is producing these seaweed-based nutraceuticals. The government has thus realized the potential of this sector for improving the rural economy and creating jobs in a timely manner, and more conscious efforts are being made to promote this sector by different agencies, as highlighted in following section.

3. Conscious Efforts by the Government of India, Research Organizations, and Industry to Promote Seaweed Farming and Downstream Processing

The United Nations’ “Sustainable Development Goal 14” highlights the pressing need for conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas, and marine resources for the overall development of mankind. India was the first country to create the separate “Department of Ocean Development” in 1981, now renamed as the “Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES)”, which takes care of overall policy for both upstream and downstream activities.

Similarly, in May 2019, the independent “Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying” was created from the department of the same name, which was previously under the “Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare”. To give further fillip to the marine sector, the “Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India (EAC-PM)”, in an attempt to drive the ocean-based economic development of the country, has taken up the initiative to evolve a policy approach to the Blue Economy. These developments are encouraging not only for the marine sector as a whole, but also for seaweed more specifically. It is encouraging to note that the “Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying” allocated USD 135.44 million during 2020–2021 for the flagship scheme “Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY)” to ambitiously expand the sector and accelerate its growth over the next five years.

The major events during the last five years are listed in

Table 1. Milestones for developing the seaweed farming and processing sector in India during the last five years.

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

* TIFAC: Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council; CSIR: Council of Scientific and Industrial Research; CSMCRI: Central Salt And Marine Chemicals Research Institute; ICC: Indian Chambers of Commerce; NITI: National Institution for Transforming India; MoFAHD: Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairy; MoAFW: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare; MoEFCC: Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change; ICAR: Indian Council of Agricultural Research; CMFRI: Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute; NCSCM: National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management; NEDAC: Network for the Development of Agricultural Co-operatives in the Asia and the Pacific.

. India has set the ambitious target of production of 11.5 million metric tonnes of fresh seaweed biomass in the next five years. This objective needs more coordinated efforts of several stakeholders and convergence with different government departments, along with industry participation. It should be noted that the efforts already made are reflective of the collective steps of several stakeholders in sharing their expertise and knowledge. The collaboration and liaison with experts from other countries initiated during the events mentioned were helpful for learning from their experience in the area of cultivation, seedling production, and plant bio-stimulants in particular.

4. Recommendations

The evidence-based sector management and policy decision-making are essential for sustainable economic growth and the health of marine waters, and are incentivized by policymakers. It is apparent from the literature that a wider ecosystem–based and socioeconomic approach to seaweed farming is highly recommended. The rapid expansion goals envisaged might result in unforeseen impacts where regulatory policies are in their infancy. The following policy recommendations are made to provide guidance for the implementation of framework measures:

• 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.

As many of these recommendations require policy interventions, they need to be implemented by different government departments—especially the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairy, New Delhi, and/or the departments of fisheries of the respective states or union territories. Nevertheless, recommendations pertaining to research aspects need to be taken up by various national research organizations working on seaweed cultivation and processing, such as the CSIR (Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Bhavnagar, India), ICAR (Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Cochin and National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai, India), etc. It should also be noted that almost all guidelines on seaweed cultivation come under the ambit of general aquaculture frameworks. For the first time, the seaweed sector has been identified and given separate budgetary provisions. These recommendations, once integrated into the national policy, can align with the relevant international policy frameworks for better adoption and implementation of standards.

5. Proposal for Establishing a Multipurpose Seaweed Park in Tamil Nadu

The Finance Minister of India, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman, in her budget speech on 1 February 2021 for the year 2021–2022, allocated the highest ever annual budgetary support of USD 165.37 million for the Department of Fisheries [18]. Furthermore, she mentioned that seaweed farming is an emerging sector with the considerable potential to transform the lives of coastal communities, through providing large-scale employment as well as additional income. The concept of a multipurpose seaweed park in Tamil Nadu would be the first of its kind in the world, and the objectives envisaged are very pertinent to the cause of improving the livelihood of fishing communities (see Supplementary Materials). The park is currently being carefully conceptualized with support from different stakeholders working in this domain, including national research organizations. This support is especially needed in evolving the design and functionalities of the seaweed park, the technologies to be leveraged, the technical support to be rendered in the establishment of plants for downstream processing to value-added products, and the training and skills to be deployed.

The following points are pertinent to the multipurpose seaweed park:

A.

Upstream (seaweed-farming-related components):

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Establishment of the seed bank in the sea.

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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.

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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.

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Processing units for edible seaweeds.

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Facilities for the authentication /certification of products and quality control conforming to standards.

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Provision of ETP plants.

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Enabling facilities such as water, electricity, sewage, and disposal systems for the industries to flourish.

C.

Knowledge/information bank and training facilities:

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Digital map showing the seaweed diversity of Indian maritime states and union territories.

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A one-stop comprehensive information center (and website) on the range of seaweed-based technologies and products.

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A museum and repository of live seaweed samples, plus a herbarium.

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A seaweed cultivation skilling center for hands-on training linked to entrepreneurship and job creation.

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Hostel/guest house (international standard) facilities for trainees and visiting staff.

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Conference and auditorium facilities.

The Agar and Alginate Manufacturers Welfare Association, Madurai, Tamil Nadu—the largest conglomeration of small-scale seaweed-based industries in India—welcomed the announcement of the seaweed park, and consider that it would boost the industry (Mr. A Bose Ramachandran, President of the Agar and Alginate Manufacturers Welfare Association, personal communication). It should be noted that several of these industries are on the brink of closure due to impediments, such as the dearth of feedstock from natural harvest, and the low technological and technical methodologies that are still being practiced for the manufacturing of agar and alginate by these industries [10,11]. The expectations of stakeholders through this initiative are as follows: (a) implementation of large-scale farming of seaweed—not only of Kappaphycus alvarezii, but also of other native seaweeds, which have shown considerable promise, namely, G. edulis [19], G. debilis [20], G. dura [21,22], and Ge. acerosa [23]; (b) production of sufficient biomass to cater to domestic demand, considerable savings on foreign exchange and government revenue, and opening of export opportunities; (c) introducing small-scale biomass-processing industries with advanced and cost-effective technologies for the production of high-quality and international standard products; (d) eliminating middlemen and traders who buy feedstock from seaweed cultivators and gatherers for a paltry amount and keep them in dark on the actual market prices; (e) promotion of seaweeds in the food sector, thereby addressing the nutritional security of a large segment of undernourished and underprivileged marginal communities; (f) introduction of new high-value products in domestic markets, such as pigments for natural colorants [24], nutraceuticals, biologically active compounds for use against lifestyle diseases such as diabetes [25], and plant and animal bio-stimulants [15,16,26]. We believe that the development of the seaweed park would go a long way towards these goals, and the success of the park would pave the way to replicate this unique concept in other potential costal locations. Active steps are being taken by the government to boost seaweed cultivation and processing in other maritime states and union territories; Gujarat, Daman and Diu, and Lakshadweep are the most promising to take this forward.

The aim of this article was to share the experience and resource referrals with other maritime nations where seaweed cultivation and processing is in a nascent stage. To be more specific, we aim to develop collaboration, whereby overlapping and/or repetition of work by different stakeholders could be avoided. This would also make the decision making at the national level quicker and more focused. Furthermore, it would also help in furthering our collaboration with 38 different countries of the Indian Ocean region and, more specifically, the sea-facing countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC), for mutual benefit.

Attributes such as low capital and operating costs, non-cumbersome farming methodologies, and rapid production cycles, coupled with the growing international market for commodity products based on carrageenan, make seaweed farming a more lucrative and appealing enterprise. This has prompted the inclusion of commercial seaweed cultivation and value-addition-based projects into several coastal management programs and fisheries management initiatives though either international development agencies, regional fisheries, or government departments. Kappaphycus alvarezii cultivation has been primarily been undertaken by smallholder farmers, and family-centered operations have been found to be most successful. Studies conducted in Indonesia revealed that in addition to directly accrued financial benefits, this activity also contributes towards human and social capital within coastal communities [27]. The global efforts to review seaweed farming based on comparative budget analysis of enterprises from six countries—namely, Indonesia, the Philippines, Tanzania, India, the Solomon Islands, and Mexico—concluded that to achieve and ensure adequate economic returns, a minimum of 2000 m of culture lines is necessary [28]. This study makes policy recommendations to improve the economic potential, especially of underperforming systems.

The low farm gate price has been found to seriously hamper the revenue-generating potential in countries in remote production regions such as Tanzania and the Solomon Islands. However, on the other hand, the trade value has been consistently found to be proportionally increased in India over the past decade [9]. A policy should be in place to fix the farm gate value of the produce, linked with inflation. Disease and infestation have been found to be important impediments that severely impact commercial farming operations in Tanzania and the Philippines. India also suffered mass mortality events in 2013–2014. The abovementioned countries have devised various policies [6], such as the policies in Zanzibar, wherein implementation of value-added products from cultivated seaweed biomass though Zanzibar Seaweed Cluster Initiative has helped farmers to realize higher income. The production of seaweed-based soaps, lotions, powders, etc., has helped in creating additional employment [28]. In India, the invention of simultaneous recovery of two products from biomass has also helped seaweed growers to obtain higher remuneration. Projections have been made for the profitability assessment parameters of K. alvarezii farming under short-term, medium-term, and long-term evaluation for three farming techniques—namely, floating bamboo rafts, monoline tubular nets, and monoline netbags—along the eastern coast of India. The raft method of cultivation has shown a minimum payback period (PP), the break-even point (BP) has been found to be efficient for monoline methods, while the net present value (NPV) has been found to be favorable for all three methods of cultivation. The floating bamboo raft and monoline techniques have been shown to be economically promising, as well as being replicable for large-scale operations [29].

6. Conclusions

Seaweed resources have been gaining importance, and nearly 7000 related articles were published in 2020 alone, with significant focus on agricultural and medicinal applications [30]. The development of seaweed cultivation technology by CSIR-CSMCRI—especially the Kappaphycus alvarezii raft cultivation technique—has been one of the first milestones in the development of the seaweed sector in India. Thereafter, the development of downstream technologies for bio-stimulants and carrageenan, and subsequent validation of the efficacy of Kappaphycus- and Gracilaria-based seaweed bio-stimulants on various agricultural crops across 20 states of India, has catapulted the production of seaweed in India, having earned the interest of industry, supporting cultivation following the cooperative self-help group model, ushering unprecedented socioeconomic growth of the seaweed cultivators as well as improving agricultural farm income. Furthermore, the life-cycle impact assessment of seaweed-based bio-stimulant production from onshore-cultivated K. alvarezii has shown it to be environmentally sustainable [31]. The success achieved has been marred by intervening drought, which has brought to the fore the risks associated with seaweed farming, and caught the attention of research institutes, industries, cultivators, and policymakers, prompting them to deliberate in-depth with the aim of finding a practical solution to the problems in the seaweed sector. Several stakeholder meetings were held at the behest of the highest planning body—the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog—and international opinion was sought to leverage their experiences. Based on informed opinion, the government of India has developed a clear policy to promote seaweed cultivation in India on a large-scale, while changes to the regulatory framework have also been introduced for the downstream product, viz., bio-stimulant. With the set target of achieving 1 million tonnes of seaweed production over the next 5 years, recommendations have been made based on the scientific findings and practical experience on cultivation, processing, and policy interventions to be implemented. Pan-Indian cultivation warrants concerted efforts towards the production of sufficient quality seeding material, along with a self-help group model of cultivation, by people who know the sea and strictly adhere to the specified minimum threshold number of rafts/tube nets per seaweed grower, failure to do which would render the cultivation process economically untenable. Efforts should be also devoted towards developing techniques to increase the productivity of different seaweed species, including edible ones. Standardized downstream processing technologies are available, which must be adopted to increase the productivity of cottage industries and MSMEs, while simultaneous efforts should also be made towards developing high-value niche products in the functional food domain. A major thrust should be to introduce enabling policies, including demarcation of conducive sites based on evidence-based research studies, which needs to be undertaken on pan-Indian basis; single-window clearance for permission to cultivate and set up industries; setting up of seaweed parks; pricing mechanisms of seaweeds and their products being linked to the quality and cost of production; easing cultivated seaweed export; and cushioning the growers through insurance coverage. All of these would go a long way in taking the seaweed sector in India closer to its projected potential. There is an increasing awareness that policies do not succeed or fail on their own merits. Nevertheless, there have been impediments to implementing the policy decisions. In rural coastal settings, the factors that shape and influence policy implementation are essentially complex, multifaceted, and multileveled. Thus, to ensure that the intentions provided in the recommendations are turned into results, a top-down approach to the policy implementation might not yield good results. It should be noted that, when implementing large-scale commercial farming and processing projects, underestimation of the time and costs necessary to achieve the proposed objectives, and the overestimation of the benefits, should be avoided. Furthermore, a “one-fit-solution” in a country such as India, with considerable variation in coastal habitats and demography, is not possible. Thus, the policy implementation would be dependent on local context rather than national. It would be interesting to commission research on the role of policy support programs to study and identify the gaps in policy implementation and performance monitoring for the seaweed farming and processing sector in India, for long-term benefits.