The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) vowed to continue supporting the Seaweed Research and Development Center (SeaRDeC) in the Mindanao State University (MSU)-Tawi-Tawi to strengthen the country’s seaweed industry, particularly in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
DOST Secretary Fortunato “Boy” T de la Peña cited SeaRDeC’s establishment as an opportunity to combine laboratory, hatchery and farming technologies that include morphological, genetic, and chemical analyses of farmed and wild Eucheumatoid seaweed varieties found across the Sulu Archipelago.
“The ultimate goal of the program is to increase seaweed production in the BARMM through scientific research and technological applications,” he said in a report.
He noted that SeaRDeC has so far collected more than a thousand of wild and farmed Eucheumatoid samples from six municipalities in Tawi-Tawi, including Panglima Sugala, Sapa-Sapa, Sibutu, Sitangkai, South Ubian, and Tandubas.
“This has been the richest collection of Eucheumatoid specimens by far known for any research endeavor. A comprehensive morphological, genetic, physiological (survival and growth rate) and chemical (carrageenan yield and quality) characteristics of these collections will be profiled,” the DOST chief said.
He said the program has so far profiled most of these samples morphologically, and kept voucher specimens in the MSU-Tawi-Tawi Herbarium.
De la Peña reported that 28 Kappaphycus varieties have been successfully propagated in the laboratory and are now being cultured in the land-based hatchery in preparation for mass propagation in the seabased nursery.
"Approximately 3,000 individuals of Kappaphycus spp. sporelings are currently maintained in the laboratory. Kappaphycus cultivars propagated using branches and sporelings are currently grown using different culture media to determine the best growth media for them in the lab,” he said
“Information that will be generated from these studies will be used to select superior strains with best agronomic traits, resistant to epiphyte infestation and ice-ice disease, and adapted to changing climate.”