Innovations and impacts of seaweed production and processing in Indonesia
Seaweed innovations will be crucial for the sustainable development of our coastlines with opportunities to enhance economic, environmental and social wellbeing impacts in Indonesia. This talk describes the outcomes of a recently completed (2016-2021) Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research funded project on seaweed production and processing in Indonesia with Balai Besar Riset Pengolahan Produk dan Bioteknologi Kelautan dan Perikanan (Research and Development Centre for Marine and Fisheries Product Processing and Biotechnology, Jakarta), Loka Riset Budidaya Rumput Laut (Centre for Seaweed Culture Research and Development, Gorontalo), Balai Perikanan Budidaya Air Payau (Brackishwater Aquaculture Development Centre, Takalar and Ujung Batee), Hasanuddin University (Makassar) and Sekolah Tinggi Teknologi Kelautan (College of Marine Technology, Makassar).
An overview of project publications is presented including analysing the value chains for established red seaweeds Kappaphycus/Eucheuma, understanding the socio-economic benefits for women from community-scale processing, identifying existing and emerging species of seaweed using molecular barcoding techniques, improving the quality of Kappaphycus/Eucheuma produced at the farm level to enhance gel yields, identifying new product opportunities for seaweeds that can be developed domestically, developing new processing techniques for seaweeds, developing innovative methods to manage processing waste streams from seaweeds, and evaluating food and health applications for seaweeds.