Seaweed (‘rumput laut’) farming in Indonesia is carried out through much of the archipelago, and mainly by smallholder farmers. Indonesia is the largest global producer of the red seaweeds Kappaphycus alvarezii and Eucheuma denticulatum (colloquially ‘cottonii’ and ‘spinosum’) which are used to produce carrageenan, and is a major producer of Gracilaria, used to produce agar. Seaweed farming is attractive to farmers in rural coastal communities because capital and operating costs are low, farming techniques are not technically demanding, labour requirements are relatively low (allowing farmers to engage in other livelihoods), and production cycles are short (~45 days) with the potential to provide regular income throughout much of the year. Using the reported values for seaweed-farming income we do emphasise that the farming of seaweeds can, but does not always, lift rural households above the Indonesian poverty line. This economic rationale is a major driving force behind much of the international interest in small holder farming of seaweed across tropical countries, and this finding early in the project provided important context for all subsequent work with farming communities.
In addition to the direct financial benefits of seaweed production, the project team provided new insights on the broader impacts of seaweed farming, specifically that farming contributes to human and social capitals within households and communities. Continued delivery of economic and social benefits from seaweed farming will require additional policy development, as well as technical research and development to support improved and more consistent seaweed productivity, improved product quality at farm level, provision of effective extension and technical support services, and diversification of the existing value chains to reduce the impacts of price fluctuations associated with global commodity chains. The work that the Indonesian project partners continue to conduct across these broad themes will be crucial for long-term sustainable development of the industry and the communities that rely upon them.
Seaweed innovations can provide opportunities to enhance economic, environmental and social wellbeing impacts on Indonesian coastlines and across the country. Project publications and outputs are described herein, focusing on analysing the value chains for established red seaweeds Kappaphycus and Eucheuma, understanding the socio- economic benefits for women from community-scale processing, identifying existing and emerging species of seaweed using molecular barcoding techniques and improving the quality of seaweed produced at the farm level to enhance gel yields for global commodity markets. The project also identified new product opportunities for seaweeds that can be developed domestically, developed new processing techniques and, importantly for waste management, identified innovative methods to manage processing waste streams. For example, the solid waste from agar extraction of Gracilaria consists of micronutrients and growth hormones with now demonstrated use as plant fertiliser, and high-value pigments and bio-salt can be pre-extracted from Kappaphycus at the farm prior to shipment and processing for carrageenan. These and other value-adding product innovations from the project are now being evaluated in a circular economy approach, with numerous publications and intellectual property being developed.
One of the most important contributions of the project was the provision of fundamental taxonomic information on the seaweeds being farmed in Indonesia, and the associated capacity-building provided through molecular workshops on DNA barcoding techniques. The results established, in many instances for the first time, which species are under cultivation in Indonesia, as the origins of most of the cultivars are obscure. This work confirmed that seaweed taxonomy must be based on molecular investigations, as morphological characteristics are not useful for seaweeds due to their inherent phenotypic plasticity. The outcome of this component of the project is the surety on the species being produced that is essential for marketing and for selecting superior seed stocks for farming.
A series of large and logistically challenging experiments was conducted on the farming of Kappaphycus across Indonesia. Discussions between the project team and farmers in some locations provided anecdotes and a perceived general trend of decreasing seaweed production. The seminal research conducted by the Loka Gorontalo (Seaweed Centre) team demonstrated inherent variability in growth rates and chemical composition of seaweeds when farmed in a standardised manner at their source locations. Furthermore, when seedstock were translocated from throughout Indonesia to a single ‘common garden’ experimental trial site in South Sulawesi, there were significant source by environment interactions with different cultivars performing differently, some better and some worse than the local cultivar over multiple cycles and across different environmental conditions. Similar insights were gained in ‘reciprocal transplant’ farm trials of Gracilaria cultivars from different locations (pond and sea) and of transplants of Caulerpa cultivars from different pond sites in South Sulawesi. To reiterate, research of this type has not been reported elsewhere in Indonesia and rarely done at scale around the world. The results and the methods developed by the project teams are fundamental for establishing effective processes for improving the growth rates and quality of the seaweed, and utilising the full breadth of cultivars available in Indonesia.
One of the main objectives of the project was to quantitatively document the socio- economic benefits of seaweed farming for communities with a focus on women. The publication outputs from this package of work are already important contributions to the global literature on seaweed farming, and being cited accordingly. These journal articles are complemented by the soon to be released ‘Makassar Seaweed Recipe’ book which provide instructions in both Bahasa and English on recipes selected by the interviewed women’s groups. This monograph has been designed to enhance the standing and growth of the women’s groups in South Sulawesi, which were both active contributors and beneficiaries in the project. Importantly, the project has identified next steps to ensure the sustainability and further development of the women’s groups.
Overall, the project was a productive, multi-disciplinary and collegial effort to understand and enhance seaweed farming and processing in Indonesia. Upon reflection, perhaps the end of project reviewers captured the essence of the team work best through their written comment that ‘the project has been perceived by stakeholders as one of Australia’s most significant contributions to Indonesian people’. The project created collaborations that are sustained to this day, as articles continue to be published and connections across the partner organisations expand through student exchange and mobility to other agencies. The disruption of COVID over the last year of operations hampered the activities on the ground, and ultimately the ability to bring farmers together to workshop the project results. However, this did provide the opportunity to publish a significant number of articles publications in national and international journals in both English and Bahasa. Members of the Biotek product team also received an Innovation Award and had a patent registered.
At the time of writing there are many global voices and relentless coverage of seaweed in the futuristic context of solving some of the most significant environmental challenges of our time. Some commentary is well founded, but most is over-simplified and makes assumptions about scale that even China and Indonesia have not achieved, with decades of learnings across business and research domains. In contemplating the next steps for seaweed initiatives, an Indonesian phrase that is relevant to fisheries comes to mind:
Tong kosong nyaring bunyinya (an empty vessel makes the most noise)
The ACIAR Indonesian Seaweed Project leaves a full vessel of rumput laut knowledge as its legacy, with 24 publications spread across all three Objectives. The outputs include 20 journal articles (15 with Indonesian first authors and 15 open access), 2 publications in Bahasa in the ‘Proceedings of the Annual National Seminar on Fisheries and Marine Products’ and significant impact through participation in national and international conferences and workshops during the project and since its completion (Appendix 1, and elsewhere). Many insights and lessons have been shared on the world stage and, at the same time, with the farmers, processors and communities within which the work took place. We look forward to the uptake of this research and helping to shape the future of global seaweed investments with the multidisciplinary lens that directed this project.