Phl out to regain lead as top seaweed source

CEBU, Philippines - In a bid to regain its position as the top producer of raw seaweed in the world,  the Philippines is allocating P265 million  to boost the production and expand the country’s seaweed farms.

Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources (BFAR) senior agriculturist and National Seaweed Coordinator Isidro M. Velayo, Jr. said the Philippines expects to grow its production volume by at least 10 percent next year, with the increased budget allocation.

The Philippines used to be the top producer of seaweeds before it was taken over by Indonesia in recent years. While the Indonesian government gives its all-out support to its seaweed industry because of the huge potential, the Philippines just didn’t care.  In fact, for this year the Department of Agriculture, through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) only allocated P40M for the development of seaweed farming. But  things will change for the better for the country’s seaweed industry with the increased budget starting next year.

At the two-day National Seaweed Convention organized by the Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines (SIAP)  which concluded yesterday, Velayo emphasized that the government is confident to overtake Indonesia as the number one  producer of raw seaweed as the Philippines produces better quality seaweed than Indonesia. 

Because of the unresolved shortage of supply, forcing seaweed processing plants to import from Indonesia, the government has decided to increase the budget allocation for the industry  to help the farmers produce more, while the demand is significantly increasing.

At present, the Philippines only produces an estimate of 180T metric tons of raw seaweed, way beyond the industry’s needs, Isidro said.

The increased budget of P265 million will be used to provide technical training for farmers specifically on  how to increase production, provide  dyers to farmers, and increase the number of seedlings to be made available to farmers, among other development programs.

Although there is a shortage of raw seaweed in the country, the Philippines is also exporting about 20 percent to  25 percent of its total production. Isidro said in order to satisfy the needs for the seaweed processing plants here, as well as the export demand, the Philippines should work hard in taking advantage of this opportunity, thereby benefiting the seaweed farmers in the Philippines.

The seaweed industry in the Philippines, which primarily provides the food-grade specie of seaweed, is providing livelihood to over 100,000 families across the country.

In Central Visayas, the seaweed production dropped by 1.1 percent in the last quarter this year due to frequent rain and scarcity of planting materials.

According to Isidro, BFAR is increasing its seedling inventory, as well as expanding the availability of farm units, of which about 25,401 farm units will be implemented in the next few months.

The government is also planning to partner with the Department of Trade and Industry and the SIAP and traders to concretize the pricing of raw seaweed by providing farmers with accessible information on the prevailing price of seaweed in the market, Isidro added.

Although the price is driven by the supply and demand matrix, Isidro said the farmers have the right to know what is the prevailing raw seaweed price in order to get the right amount of their produce.

A National Seaweed Center facility is also being eyed to be installed, Isidro said, however the government is still  mulling on where to build this facility, and identifying  what type of services to be offered in the center.

Overall, Isidro said the future of seaweed production in the Philippines is promising, while the world market demand for processed seaweed or carrageenan is  on the upswing. (FREEMAN)