Monday, May 07, 2007 Armm bullish over seaweed industry
KORONADAL CITY -- The country's seaweeds production is getting a boost with the operation hopefully next month of a pilot processing plant in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the nation's top producer of seaweeds, a ranking official said over the weekend.
Janice Musali, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-Armm assistant director, said they will test run the new alkali treatment plant within the next two weeks.
"The contractor is still finishing some small mechanical details that would allow the processing center to run and be officially launched before the end of May," she said.
Worth around P5 million, construction of the plant, located at Parang town in the newly created Shariff Kabunsuan province, started in the last quarter of 2006. It is funded by Bfar.
Musali said the plant can process around four tons of alkali-treated seaweeds a day that would turn these into a form of a chip before they are sold to buyers.
Price of fresh seaweeds is presently hovering at P4 to P4.50 per kilo in the area, she added.
The coastal town of Parang, which is near Cotabato City, has at least 200 hectares of seaweeds, of which 180 hectares are under a cooperative that would eventually be tapped to run the processing plant.
Musali said Bfar would turn over the processing plant to the cooperative after six months to allow for training or transfer of the technology to the beneficiaries.
She expressed high hopes that more farmers and fishermen would see the potentials of seaweeds to reduce poverty incidence in the autonomous Muslim region with the processing plant's looming presence.
Musali said her agency hopes to replicate the processing plant in other parts of the Armm.
"It is expected that ordinary seaweeds farmers will benefit from the project because aside from having a ready buyer for their produce at a good price, they will still be receiving an extra share from the earnings of the processing plant," Sajid Cruz Ali, Department of Agriculture-Armm secretary, said.
