AP starts seaweed agriculture as a pilot project for Konaseema

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government will be a pilot project in BR Ambedkar Konaseema district to cultivate UV farming at sea. Given the huge demand for its by-products, mainly the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, and good employment potential for local fishermen, it is expected to begin in the second week of June.

The pilot project was proposed with the support of regional collector R. Mahesh Kumar, the Ministry of Fisheries and the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Tamil Nadu.

Therefore, the fishery authorities have identified four most suitable locations, one in the return water at the mouth of the sea, while the other three are in the sea. They selected three types of culture species: Kappaphycus, Gracilaria salicornia and Gracilaria Edulis.

Authorities arrange bamboo rafts (3x3m) in the sea water with weights on four sides so that they float in the sea water without being washed away by high/low tide. People have to reach the structure every day to avoid any sticky substances in order to expose the seaweed to the sun. Water with salinity above 25 ppt is suitable for seaweed cultivation in seawater.

Fisheries and CMRFI authorities will train 25 fishermen and 10 department staff to initially engage in seaweed cultivation, which in turn will raise awareness for others.

“We are engaged in seaweed cultivation as a pilot project, and the variety of species is targeting industrial demand, cost factors and other details are being finalized,” said Konaseema Regional Fisheries Officer PV Srinivasa Rao.

Meanwhile, in addition to using seaweed by-products for industrial needs, its waste can also be used as feed for cattle and water industries. In addition, some seaweed is also used in human consumption in Japan and other countries.

The authorities said entrepreneurs could forward and invest about Rs 100 to install machinery to extract by-products from seaweed so that they could market it for further processing and earn good income.

Earlier, experts from CMRFI and district officials checked the appropriate places located in the villages of Katrenikona, Uppalaguptam, Mamidikuduru and Sahinetipalli Mandals to finalize the project.