The Hindu : Front Page : SHG gets a good deal in seaweed cultivation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 06, 2006

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SHG gets a good deal in seaweed cultivation

G. Srinivasan

`Thanjavur coast conducive for this activity'

ON A HIGH TIDE: Members of the `Kurinji', a women's self-help group of Adaikathevan, at work in the sea.

Thanjavur: A women self-help group (SHG) has set an example by taking cultivation of seaweed as an economic activity in the coastal area of the district.

The group, named "Kurinji" with 20 fisherwomen as its members, has been cultivating seaweed at Adaikathevan, a coastal village in Sethubavachathiram block.

The group members have been trained in the cultivation of seaweed by a private company, Pepsico Limited, which purchases the dried seaweeds from them.

The company has entered into a tripartite memorandum of understanding with State Bank of India (SBI), Peravurani and the SHG for the cultivation. The SBI has given a loan of Rs.5 lakh under the SGSY scheme with a subsidy of Rs.1.25 lakh.

It is cultivated in the sea using floating bamboo rafts. Seaweed seeds supplied by the Pepsico Limited are tied in knots in the bamboo rafts and put in the sea and allowed to grow for 45 days. The weed is then harvested, dried and sold to the company, which purchases it for extracting "Carageenan". Carageenan is widely used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food and pet food industries.

Each person of the `Kurinji' owns 45 rafts and the members harvest the weed grown in a raft after every 45 days, thus having harvest every day. The private company supplies seeds at 80 paise per kg and purchases the dried weeds at Rs.8.50 per kg. Each person produces 20 kg of dried seaweed per day and thus gets Rs.170 per day and the group Rs.3400 per day.

N.V. Baskaran, Assistant General Manager, NABARD and T.P. Rajendran, Lead District Manager, IOB, who have been popularising seaweed cultivation among SHGs, say that the Thanjavur coast is more conducive to growing seaweed as the sea is not rough and tides are gentle.

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