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Saturday, September 25, 2004
P100M carrageenan plant to spur seaweed production
THE upcoming operation of a P100 million carrageenan processing plant in Toril in Davao City is expected to spur growth to the seaweed industry in Southern Mindanao.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) regional director Merly Cruz said the processing plant put up by Davao-based businessman is due to operate in Toril, Davao City early next year.
"That would mean a better prospect for the carrageenan industry," she said in an interview.
The processing plant, which will produce semi-processed carrageenan for export, is capable of processing as much as 10,000 tons of seaweeds per month.
DTI is now working closely with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), the seaweed farmers' group, and the financial institution sector to nurture the supply chain of carrageenan production in Davao Region.
Cruz said carrageenan production is one of the identified industry in the priority areas of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean
Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga) technical working group which has seen a huge export market of the product.
"We are dead serious on this," she said.
The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) is right now the biggest producer of seaweeds followed by the Western Mindanao Region or the Zamboanga Peninsula.
Cruz is eyeing the potential of the Island Garden City of Samal located at the heart of the Davao Gulf, to produce good quality seaweeds which favorably thrive "in sea water with the right salinity level, with no fresh water dilution, and no big waves" destroying the plantation.
Some areas in Davao del Sur and in Davao Oriental are into seaweed production but the venture is not as massive that could readily meet the supply need of the processing plant.
"This time we have to influence those in the industry to make a conscious effort to go into seaweed farming," Cruz said.
Based on claims from experts, Cruz is eyeing at seaweed production as a family backyard gardening which involves every household member and does not necessarily require too much time.
"You can do other businesses and other chores, If members are good at it, the family can earn as much as P30,000 a month," she said.
Aside from the industry's export potential, DTI is also eyeing the employment opportunities it can generate.
Citing a computation, Cruz said producing 1,000 metric tons of seaweed involves about 5,000 jobs in the industry chain.
(September 25, 2004 issue)
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