Kappaphycus alvarezii cultivars selected using a ‘common garden’ approach demonstrate improved performance in on-farm trials leading to farmer adoption in Indonesia

Petrus Rani Pong-Masak; Pustika Ratnawati; Nova Francisca Simatupang; Silva Larson; Michael A. Rimmer; Nicholas A. Paul

doi:10.1007/s10811-026-03859-z

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Kappaphycus alvarezii cultivars selected using a ‘common garden’ approach demonstrate improved performance in on-farm trials leading to farmer adoption in Indonesia

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Kappaphycus alvarezii cultivars selected using a ‘common garden’ approach demonstrate improved performance in on-farm trials leading to farmer adoption in Indonesia

Petrus Rani Pong-Masak, Pustika Ratnawati, Nova Francisca Simatupang, Silva Larson, Michael A. Rimmer and Nicholas A. Paul

Journal of Applied Phycology, Vol.38, pp.2085-2097

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-026-03859-z

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Abstract

Rhodophyta

Carrageenan

Kappaphycus

growth

genotpe

environment

A ‘common garden’ experimental approach was used to evaluate the production and carrageenan properties of Kappaphycus alvarezii cultivars collected from ten different locations throughout Indonesia. The evaluation was done with three 45-day culture cycles reproducing the longline cultivation method generally used by Indonesian seaweed farmers. The advantage of the common garden approach is that it isolates genetic variability amongst cultivars by effectively removing the influences of environment and cultivation methods. In the first cycle, four cultivars exhibited high growth rates yielding 146–213 g m −1 compared with others which produced only 23–47 g m −1 . One cultivar, sourced from Mamuju, was amongst the best performing cultivars in all three cycles and demonstrated consistently high survival of clumps (79–88%). The Mamuju cultivar was subsequently provided to seaweed farmers across South Sulawesi, and its performance compared with that of ‘local’ cultivars in on-farm trials at three sites (Barru, Jeneponto and Wajo). Production of the Mamuju cultivar in these trials was higher (24–416%) than that of the local cultivars, as was its carrageenan content (up to 32.3% dry weight). The Mamuju cultivar was subsequently adopted by farmers in four locations and, in interviews conducted ~ 5 years later, farmers identified their continued use of the Mamuju cultivar because of its perceived superior growth and morphology. This long-term program of work began with an experimental evaluation of existing cultivars from across Indonesia. We highlight the value of this common garden approach in identifying cultivars with superior performance for provision to commercial seaweed farms.

Details

Title: Kappaphycus alvarezii cultivars selected using a ‘common garden’ approach demonstrate improved performance in on-farm trials leading to farmer adoption in Indonesia
Authors: Petrus Rani Pong-Masak - National Research and Innovation Agency
Pustika Ratnawati - Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries
Nova Francisca Simatupang - Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries
Silva Larson - University of the Sunshine Coast
Michael A. Rimmer (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
Nicholas A. Paul - University of the Sunshine Coast
Publication details: Journal of Applied Phycology, Vol.38, pp.2085-2097
Publisher: Springer Dordrecht
Date published: 2026
DOI: 10.1007/s10811-026-03859-z
ISSN: 1573-5176
Copyright note: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Data Availability: The data that has been used is confidential, subject to the intellectual property policies of BRIN (National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia).
Grants: Improving seaweed production and processing opportunities in Indonesia, FIS/2015/038, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (Australia, Canberra) - ACIAR
Organisation Unit: School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991229280702621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology; Marine & Freshwater Biology

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