The fact that the production of seaweed on an industrial scale can rewrite the fortune of the coastal population has finally dawned on the govt which has enlisted the support of NCDC and is preparing to rope in FPOs and co-ops in order to harness its potential.
To deliberate on the issue, an international webinar is being jointly organized by NEDAC, the Department of Fisheries, GOI and Laxmanrao Inamdar National Academy for Cooperative Research and Development (LINAC) today on 28 January 2021 on Zoom platform, which would also be live-streamed through Facebook Live and YouTube.
“The aim is to bring stakeholders on one platform and work towards forging alliances for promotion of entrepreneurship in seaweed business through cooperatives. At the same time, the webinar will identify bottlenecks at various levels and will aim at evolving options”, reads a press release from NCDC.
While Sundeep Kumar Nayak, MD NCDC and Chairman, NEDAC will address the webinar, Chief Guest will be Dr Rajeev Ranjan, Secretary, Department of Fisheries, GOI.
Those who are expected to participate include Manoj Joshi, Addl Secy, Dr. Thierry Chopin, Prof of Marine Biology, Univ of New Brunswick, Canada, Dr U S Awasthi, MD IFFCO and Dr Blossom Kochhar, Chair, Blossom Kochhar Group, among others.
The credit for realizing the worth of industrial scale production of seaweed in uplifting the income of farmers goes to Dr Rajeev Ranjan, Secretary at the newly created Department of the Fisheries of the Union Animal and Husband Ministry. Ranjan feels that seaweed has the potential to transform the way of farming. With the current world production valued around USD 12 billion, it is estimated to shoot up to USD 26 billion by 2026, he stated.
Lamenting India’s meagre share, Ranjan said the country’s potential has been estimated at a million tonnes, a fourth of which in Tamil Nadu alone. Raised to that level, this vocation can give employment to 6-7 lakh people, said the Secretary.
Given that India is endowed with around 7,500 km coastline, the Government is all set to take it to industrial scale to help the coastal communities have a sustainable livelihood as well as combat climate change threats, said the Secretary.
The Secretary said that the Government has allocated Rs 637 crore for the cultivation of these nutrition-rich marine plants, as part of the Rs 20,050-crore central scheme Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana—to be spent over the next five years, mainly as subsidy support.
