Local seaweed output seen to exceed 1M tons this year

The Department of Agriculture is projecting local seaweed to hit more than one million metric tons (MT) this year.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap, who recently addressed the 5th Mindanao Seaweed Congress in Zamboanga City, said this year’s seaweed output would exceed the production of 989,000 MT in 2003 and 895,000 MT in 2002.

Yap said the development of the seaweed industry could be a potent tool in achieving lasting peace and prosperity in Mindanao. The region accounts for 54 percent of the national harvest.

He noted that the local seaweed industry comprises two-thirds of the national aquaculture production in terms of volume, and generates a total of $141 million in annual export revenues.

Seaweed farmers, he said, are now enjoying high prices for their products, ranging from P30 to P50 a kilo. Seaweed farming provides livelihood to 500,000 Filipinos belonging to 100,000 families while seaweed processing firms and related industries employ more than 10,000 workers.

Yap, however, said the industry has to confront a number of problems, including rising production costs, unstable peace and order situation in the south, increasing competition among Asian and African countries and bad publicity about Philippines seaweed and carageenan.

He also pointed out the lack of village-level drying and post-harvest facilities, including road and port infrastructure.

For its part, the Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines (SIAP) said the unrestricted export of raw and dried Eucheuma seaweed threatens the carageenan industry.