It has not been a very rough sailing for S. Muneeswari’s family during the past one year, though her husband’s income as a fisherman has been sporadic. For 12 years she and her group of friends in Vedalai, a coastal village in Mandapam, have been cultivating Kappaphycus alvarezii (red algae).
But it was when the COVID-19 lockdown was announced that these women realised the potential of this seaweed. It kept their families afloat, and the medicinal value that the seaweed is packed with, including its immune-boosting property, necessary to fight coronavirus, was brought into limelight.
In 2021, the Centre allocated ₹637 crore as subsidy support for cultivation of seaweeds as part of the ₹20,050-crore Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY). This helped in boosting cultivation of seaweeds, started on an experimental basis by the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Mandapam, in 2003-2004. During this period, Pepsico, under its corporate social responsibility initiatives, joined hands with the CMFRI to promote seaweed cultivation in Rameswaram.
Apt for shallow waters
Jayakumar, Principal Scientist of ICAR-CMFRI, Mandapam, says as the cultivation was less labour-intensive and less technology-driven, it has helped empower almost 600 women. As the sea is shallow in these parts, the CMFRI trained the women in bamboo raft method of cultivation.
The raft has bamboo poles measuring 12 feet X 12 feet as main frame and 4 feet X 4 feet for diagonal frame. At the bottom of the raft is a fish net of 4 feet X 4 feet size to keep fish from grazing. Twenty polypropylene ropes are tied to the main frames and as many weed fragments are tied on a single rope. Under the subsidy scheme, SC/ST and women farmers get ₹900 for each bamboo raft which costs about ₹1,500.
Once ready, this floating field is anchored at a depth of 1 to 1.5 metres in the sea with a 15 kg anchor which can hold a cluster of 10 rafts. No feed is necessary as the weeds thrive on the nutrients available in the sea.
Harvest takes place after 45 days and till then the women separate other algae that may have got attached and remove strands grazed by fish. Once harvested, the scorching sun dries up the weed in two days. It is sent to private units like Aquagri in Manamadurai where carrageenan is extracted. This extract is a gelling and thickening agent that is mainly used in food, pharmaceutical and even cosmetics industries.
Foreign species no more
Today, this red algae, which was once seen as a foreign species invading Indian waters, is also an ingredient for various ‘nutraceutical’ products being manufactured by the ICAR-CMFRI, Ernakulam. A prime candidate for export, but as B. Johnson, Scientist, ICAR-CMFRI, points out, “we need to promote this more, for what we produce now is not even enough for the domestic market.”