Zamboanga City ó The government and stakeholders of the seaweed industry in Western Mindanao are set to put up seaweed seedling and gene banks in the province of Tawi-Tawi in the middle of this year. The project is expected to further improve the quality of seaweed seed stocks and boost the production of local farms in this part of the country.

Maria Jacqueline M. Carrasco, executive director of the Western Mindanao Seaweed Industry Development Foundation Inc., told BusinessWorld that construction of the third seaweed seedling production system is part of the commitment signed by several government agencies and industry stakeholders during last yearís 7th Mindanao Seaweed Congress held here.

She said among the agencies that signed the commitment are the Seaweed Foundation, Department of Science and Technology (DoST), Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, Department of Agriculture, regional offices of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Zamboanga Peninsula and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Zamboanga State College of Marine Science and Technology, Mindanao State University in Tawi-Tawi, Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM), and Tawi-Tawi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Ms. Carrasco said Zamboanga City and the province of Tawi-Tawi, which are major seaweed producers, were identified as strategic sites in setting up the seaweed gene bank and land-based nursery that will store different seaweed cultivars to be distributed not only in Zamboanga Peninsula and Sulu Archipelago, but to other farms in Mindanao as well.

Currently, only the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon City has an existing seaweed gene bank in the country, which is too far from Mindanao where majority of the seaweed producers are located, said Alfredo O. Isidro, seaweed and aquaculture development advisor of the US-funded GEM.

He said one whole seaweed seedling production system will cost around P1.7 million.

The project will include research-intensive strain selection that involves collection and transplantation of different seaweed cultivars or groups and comparative assessment of performance like growth and carrageenan yield in various farming areas.

"The gene bank and land-based seaweed nursery will address the lack of seaweed nurseries in Mindanao, particularly in this region, which eventually affect the year-on-year seaweed production in the country," Mr. Isidro told BusinessWorld.

The seaweed seedling-production system is composed of land-based and on-farm seaweed seedling bank, and a gene bank where different seaweed cultivars would be stored. This would also facilitate the development of other seaweed varieties that have good traits such as fast growth, high viscosity, high agar quality, which contributes to higher yield.

The seaweed seedling-production system has different components and roles. The seaweed gene bank will "micropopagate" specific cultivars, said Cesario R. Pagdilao, deputy executive director of the governmentís DoST in an earlier interview.

From the gene bank, the cultivars will be transferred to the land-based seaweed nursery, which will prepare the seedlings for open-sea cultivation and thus ensure the quality of seedlings, explained Mr. Pagdilao.

The on-farm seaweed seedling bank, on the other hand, will ensure the availability and accessibility of seed stocks to the farmers. It will serve as the area where farmers can "pre-select" what seaweed cultivar will be appropriate for the farming area and season.

"Establishing a seaweed seedling production system in every key seaweed production area will help the farmers, especially when seaweeds are being attacked by the íIce-Iceí disease. Processors will also benefit from the year-round seaweed harvest," Mr. Pagdilao told BusinessWorld.

Ice-ice disease, which whitens the seaweed stalks and reduces production, has become prevalent in extensive seaweed-producing areas in the country, particularly in Mindanao where 60% of the countryís total seaweeds come from.