The move comes following reports relayed to him recently by newly-designated Philippine Ambassador to Hungary Alejandro Del Rosario that a stiffer competition is now experienced by the industry as emerging carrageenan producers Indonesia and Malaysia have been curtailing local producers’ ability to expand their market in Europe.
Montemayor said the steps include the opening up of new areas and expanding existing ones to seaweed production, provision of soft-term loans for small fisherfolk, and marketing assistance that should increase consumer demand and ensure seaweed farmers a fair return of their produce.
He said, DA, through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, has linked with local government units and fisher cooperatives to promote and develop seaweed farming, especially of the eucheuma red algae variety, in such non-traditional growing areas like Davao, Quezon, Zambales and other viable areas of Luzon.
This involves giving seaweed farmers wider eucheuma production areas in newly-established mariculture parks and providing them improved algae variety to increase output and improve quality of their harvest, Montemayor said.
At present, the eucheuma algae, from which carrageenan is derived, is extensively grown in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, Western Mindanao and southern Luzon.
The DA chief said fisherfolk short of production capital would also be assisted. He said they could now avail themselves of innovative financing schemes offered by Quedancor under Nelson Buenaflor, which provide non-collateral and low-interest bearing loan of up to P50,000 per seaweed grower in just two weeks.
Montemayor said BFAR, along with municipal governments, seaweed farmer cooperatives and the private sector represented by the Seaweed Industry Association of the Philippines, has also strengthened their collaboration on market matching and working on an effective price mechanism that should stabilize seaweed prices.
Seaweed production, from where the versatile carrageenan is derived, plays an important role of the economy. It employed some 120,000 workers and generated export revenues worth P3.4 billion from exports of 56,641 metric tons of total production of 618,038 MT in 2000, BFAR figures show.
The Philippines is the world’s fourth leading supplier of seaweeds but the world’s top carrageenan exporter. The major importing countries of local seaweeds and its natural products are France, USA, United Kingdom, Denmark and Japan.