MANILA – The bilateral relation between the Philippines and India is completely taking off as both countries expressed interest in a joint venture on the USD12 billion global market or 32 million metric tons (MT) for seaweeds.
The growing bilateral relation in marine fisheries and aquaculture is brought about by the eagerness of private companies from both countries to invest in each other’s sectors.
Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI) president Danilo Fausto on Tuesday said that Indian Ambassador to Philippines Shambhu S. Kumaran brought up the idea during the India-Philippines Virtual Business Conference on Marine Fisheries and Aquaculture (IPBC-MFA) held last week.
“Indian fisheries sector produces over 7 million tons of fish and shellfish from capture fisheries and aquaculture, almost double of that produced by the Philippines, representing nearly 5 percent of the world's total fish production,” Fausto said.
Currently, China and Indonesia are dominating the global market by 80 percent.
PCAFI said that both the Philippines and India have a high chance to share the market of seaweed production and its processed form, carrageenan, through business and technical cooperation.
Fausto said both countries can immensely benefit from the exchange of resources, technology, know-how as the Philippines also has much to offer noting the country's vast resources of 338,393 hectares of swampland, 14,531 hectares of freshwater fishponds, and 239,323 hectares of brackish water fishponds.
“The Philippines sits at the heart of the coral triangle, the global center of marine biodiversity. The Verde Island Passage boasts the highest concentration of marine species with its reefs as home to nearly 60% of the world’s known fishes and 300 species of corals," the PCAFI chief said.
During the business conference, the general manager for research and development at India's AquAgri Processing Private Limited and vice president for Aqua Agro Processing Manamaduria (in Tamil Nadu, India) Dr. Munisamy Shanmugham said the time is prime to invest in aquaculture, including seaweeds.
Their government has so far allotted budget of INR 640 crore or USD88.34 million to promote the industry and provide subsidies for seaweed cultivation.
“There is huge demand for seaweed hydrocolloids in India, but currently 50-90 percent is met through imports,” Shanmughan said.
There are new areas -- Gulf of Mannar and Gulf of Kutch -- that may be considered for seaweed cultivation to meet India’s demand.
India just started to establish its processing facilities for producing carrageenan, a value-added processed form of seaweed in 2010. Carrageenan acts as an emulsifier, thickener, additive, and preservative in food and consumer products. It is an input in manufacturing dairy, gelatin, and meat products and other high-value consumer products such as toothpaste and gels.
The Philippines is a global leader in carrageenan and seaweeds and has put up its processing facilities way earlier than other countries. Its seaweeds and carrageenan exports total around USD200 million to USD250 million yearly. It has strength in technology and know-how in carrageenan manufacturing.
It was also the first in the world to develop seaweed species Euchema and Kappaphycus for commercial cultivation for carrageenan.
Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines chair Alfredo Pedrosa III, for his part, shared that even with that, the Philippines still has a significant area of 140,000 hectares of potential seaweed farm for expansion.
“These are the resources that sustain our industry. We have available farm area of 200,000 hectares along coastlines. Only 60,000 hectares are farmed. We have 500,000 hectares of deep-sea available farmable area,” he said.
Opportunities for investments in the Philippines in the seaweed industry are ripe, Pedrosa said, as domestic demand exceeds supply.
He noted that the Philippines has continued its research and development activities on other seaweed species. Surprisingly, 893 seaweed species are abundant in the Philippines, he said.
"But only a few are used for carrageenan of perhaps less than 10 species including Eucheuma, Gracilaria, Sargassum, and Kappaphycus. Other seaweed species to be cultured are Halymenia, Porpyra, and Ulva Lactuca," Pedrosa added. (PNA)
