Lok Sabha Question No. 5196 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-04-02
Subject: Seaweed Cultivation
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5196 (ANSWERED ON 02.04.2025)

## SEAWEED CULTIVATION

5196.  Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab:

Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) the  Council  of  Scientific  &  Industrial  Research  (CSIR's)  contributions  in enhancing seaweed cultivation in the country; and
- (b) the  current  status  of  seaweed  processing  and  extraction  technology developed by CSIR?

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## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES

(DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

- (a) The  cultivation  of  seaweeds  and  processing  them  into  value-added products are nationally important areas pursued by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) through its constituent laboratory namely, CSIRCentral  Salt  and  Marine  Chemicals  Research  Institute  (CSIR-CSMCRI), Bhavnagar.

In  this  context,  the  key challenges currently addressed through R&D are developing  and  providing  quality  germplasm  including  stress  tolerant variants, developing new cultivation protocols, enabling the availability of seed material, identifying locations conducive for cultivation at PAN India scale. The significant work carried out is as under:

-  A methodology for elite germplasm has been developed for Kappaphycus alvarezii  for  commercial  exploitation.  7500  elite  germlings  have  been distributed  to  commercial  farmers.  A  pilot-scale  seed  production  of Kappaphycus alvarezii for promoting extensive farming along the Tamil Nadu coast has been undertaken, wherein the production of 275 tons of fresh  seed  has  so  far  been  made  and  distributed  to  several  hundred farmers for multiplication.
-  Clonal  propagation  of Gracilaria  dura  (G.  dura)  and  Kappaphycus alvarezii through imparting appropriate treatment of various growthpromoting  substances  has  been  developed.  Based  on  the  work  of clonal propagation of G. dura, the first state-of-the-art facility in Public-
- Private Partnership (PPP) mode has come up jointly with M/s. Indian Centre for Climate and Societal Impacts Research, Mandavi, under a Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC)supported project. About 25,000 seedlings of G. dura are out-planted and  provided  to  fishermen  of  Gujarat,  who  have  produced  500  kg germplasm for commercial farming.
-  Pan-India  pre-feasibility  of  seaweed  farming  is  being  carried  out  in mission  mode  at  CSIR.  Projects  have  also  been  supported  by  the Department of Fisheries, Government of India under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY). A total of 269 sites were surveyed in all coastal states, including island territories Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. Of these, over 86 sites were found to be suitable for undertaking pre-feasibility, and among them, 62 sites were found to be conducive to undertaking commercial seaweed farming.
- (b) The current status of seaweed processing and extraction technologies developed by CSIR-CSMCRI is at Annexure-I.

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## Annexure-I

|   S.No. | Technology Knowhow                                                                                                                                                     | Current status                                                                                         |
|---------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | Integrated process for the simultaneous recovery of liquid fertilizer (sap) and carrageenan (semi-refined &refined) from fresh Kappaphycus alvarezii (USP No 6,893,479 | Technology know how transferred to three industries and products are commercialized                    |
|       2 | Production of Sap from Kappaphycus alvarezii and its application.                                                                                                      | Technology knowhow transferred to Nine industries and products by few companies are commercialized     |
|       3 | Process for preparation of agar from Indian Gracilaria spp.                                                                                                            | Technology knowhow transferred to one NGO                                                              |
|       4 | An improved process for the extraction of agarose polymer from seaweed extractive.                                                                                     | Technology knowhow transferred to one industry.                                                        |
|       5 | Preparation of refined kappa carrageenan from Kappaphycus alvarezii via semi refined kappa carrageenan                                                                 | Technology knowhow transferred to two industries                                                       |
|       6 | Production of Liquid seaweed plant biostimulants from Sargassum spp.                                                                                                   | Technology know how transferred to eleven industries and products by few companies are commercialized. |
|       7 | Zero Liquid Discharge Process for the production of alginic acid and its derivatives from alginophytes.                                                                | Technology knowhow transferred to one industry                                                         |
|       8 | Kappaphycus alvarezii and Red Seaweed Based Formulations for Improving Productivity and Health of Dairy and Poultry Animals.                                           | Technology knowhow transferred to one industry                                                         |
|       9 | Kappahycus alvarezii elite seedling production through micropropagation of tissue cultured plants                                                                      | Technology developed                                                                                   |
|      10 | Process of production of seedlings in agarose yielding red seaweed Gracilaria dura for commercial exploitation                                                         | Technology developed                                                                                   |
|      11 | An integrated process to recover a spectrum of bioproducts from fresh seaweeds                                                                                         | Technology developed                                                                                   |

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