Gov’t R&D project boosts Bicol seaweed industry

A government research and development (R&D) project is now boosting seaweed production in the Bicol Region.

Titled "CPAR Seaweeds Showcase Project," it involves the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR), DA-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-Region 5, Sorsogon Stage College (SSC), and the local government unit (LGU) of Pilar, Sorsogon.

DA-BAR, headed by Director Nicomedes P. Eleazar, is responsible for project coordination, monitoring, evaluation, and financial assistance and management.

Now on its second year, the project aims primarily to develop and verify seaweed technologies responsive to the needs of the fisherfolk and, in turn, accelerate technology transfer and commercialization.

It seeks to produce seaweed seed plants; improve and increase seaweed production from three to seven tons per hectare; and increase farmers’ income from 50 to 100 percent.

Moreover, it aims to strengthen seaweed farming commercialization and develop appropriate preventive management and control measures of seaweed diseases.

The project’s significant strides were summed up by Jose Monzales, chair of the Pilar Seaweeds Farmes and Traders Association (PSFTA), thus: "Seaweed farming does not only provide livelihood for the local people but also increases its production, making Barangay Pilar, Sorsogon, the leading source of seaweeds in the Bicol Region."

Monzales expressed their group’s satisfaction over the performance of the project to a group of BAR officials and researchers who recently visited Bicol to monitor and evaluate the Community-based Participatory Action Research (CPAR) project on seaweeds. CPAR is BAR’s banner research program.

The team–composed of Dr. Catalino dela Cruz, Tito Arevalo, and Digna Sandoval–met with officials of BFAR-5, SSC, and Pilar LGU and visited Pilar Bay, site of the project.

Aida Andayog, Regional Fisheries R&D Center (RFRDC) manager for Region 5, said the CFAR project aims to define and refine technologies on seaweeds with the fisherfolk as active partners of the researchers in understanding and improving local seaweed farming system.

The seaweed farms are managed by the farmers themselves, allowing them to investigate and observe the comparative advantage of the technology being tested vis-a-vis their practice.

"The idea is for the community to showcase the best performing seaweed species, Kappaphycus alvarezii, using appropriate management practices to expand farming areas, and improve productivity to meet the volume enough for commercialization," Andayong said. – RAF