Oceans are not just about gentle waves, salty air and blue appearance, they hold many secrets on their surface, much more than human expectations.
For example, not many people know that seaweeds are used as food, fodder, fertilizer, and medicines since ancient times. The extracts from some of the seaweeds are used in production of ice cream, tooth paste, tomato ketchup, chocolate, and in dentistry, microbiology, biotechnology, textile printing, meat pressing and several other industries. Today varieties of seaweeds and their products are a multibillion dollar industry and the demand for these products is increasing manifold every year. Various pharmaceutical companies are now prospecting for new biomolecules from seaweeds. No wonder, the Union government has planned a multi-purpose seaweed park in Tamil Nadu.
Back home, Professor Dinabandhu Sahoo, a plant scientist, has been creating awareness on the health benefits of seaweed for nearly 40 years.
For the unversed, Dinabandhu, who now works as the Vice-Chancellor of Fakir Mohan University, was the first Indian student to visit Antarctica in 1987 during the 7th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica and hoisted the Indian Flag there. By the time he was 27, he had already travelled all the seven continents and five oceans in a record time of just 18 months.
The former professor of Botany in University of Delhi, who believes seaweed cultivation has the potential to improve the economy of the people living in coastal areas, shares his experience with Sunday POST.
“India has a coastline of more than 7,500 kilometre with Odisha sharing about 480 kilometre of it. A total of 770 seaweed species have been reported from different parts of the Indian coasts which includes 184 species of green, 166 brown and 420 red species. Unlike the oriental countries like Japan, China and Korea, India does not have a long history about the uses of seaweeds as food and other purposes. So I came up with the idea of Blue Revolution 20 years back with an aim to transform the resource for the benefit of the common man in the society and use algae for multiple purposes,” says Dinabandhu.
Algae or seaweed is the future as there are no other plants in the plant kingdom which will have so many uses, he adds.
The Phycology expert has made significant contributions on primary productivity of seaweed along the Odisha peninsular coasts. Dinabandhu has also been involved in setting up seaweed cultivation by a local women’s self-help group in Chilika. With the vision of women empowerment, employment among people living in the coastline, he trained villagers about seaweed farming and utilisation as part of his ‘Blue Revolution’.
During his visit to the Philippines, Dinabandhu observed that over 10,000 families in the Philippines earn their livelihood through seaweed farming. It was then he felt that seaweed cultivation can be beneficial to the people living in the coastal districts of Odisha where people mostly depend on fishing for a living. His write-up Teach a Man to Fish has been published in the best-selling book I have a Dream, which has been translated into several Indian languages. For the last 20 years, he has led research in applied phycology, both on microalgae and seaweeds. His book Farming the Ocean was hailed by the scientists across the country. That book inspired him to develop a model where seaweed could become a source of income for the local population.
He elaborates, “As the demand for food and other products is growing steadily, we have to look for new resources. Algae are the organisms that grow in the ocean, in the water, on the land and have not been explored much. There are two groups of algae – microalgae and macroalgae. Macroalgae are mostly known as seaweeds and have several other uses. We use them in our daily life starting from brushing our teeth with toothpaste to textile painting, to biotechnological applications and to ice cream production.”
Dinabandhu went to the Philippines and Japan for training on seaweed in 1990 and then he wrote to Government of India that there is a need to go for the large scale seaweed cultivation in India. In order to sensitise people about seaweed cultivation and create interest, he authored a book titled Farming the Ocean in 2000.
“My book Farming the Ocean helped in creating awareness among the policy makers, intellectuals and industries. When I was in Japan to do research on seaweed, a Japanese friend had told me that ‘we look much younger compared to our age because seaweed contributes substantially to our food.’ His words made an impact on me and I decided to promote seaweed cultivation in India,” says Dinabandhu.
He traveled across the world studying the algae in various habitats and environments. After returning, he tried to integrate the basic and applied knowledge to the commercial part. Ninety-nine per cent of the technology failed when it got transferred from the laboratory to the field. The failure made him launch a national level coordinated programme. He started training women in Chilika, recounts Dinabandhu.
He has contributed substantially to the field of marine algae and applied his skills in product development and employment generation at the grassroot level for the socio-economic development of the people living in coastal areas. He has extensively worked in the field of seaweed cultivation and utilisation using the concept of generating wealth from waste. Based on his 20 years of work experience on Chilika Lake, he has developed a model called the ‘Chilika Model’ for the socio-economic upliftment of the fishermen community in different parts of Indian coasts. This pioneering Chilika model led the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, to formulate the First National project on large scale seaweed cultivation and processing for livelihood generation in different coastal states and Union Territories of India. This pioneering work has earned him a spot amongst the 20 top social entrepreneurs of the country in the best seller, I Have a Dream. Based on the same subject, he has co-directed a documentary film Chilika and Untold Story.
Dinabandhu has developed and patented a technology that can clean cars emissions using algae in 2012. At the same time, it could also generate the fuel to run a car.
“The authorities concerned should include the study of seaweed in school syllabus which is very important. Students are needed to be sensitised on the value of algae. Once we have done that, more than half the battle is won. We will not have to tell the politicians or policy makers or scientists what to do about algae. Presently people think algae are completely useless. You will find heaps of dried and decomposed algae lying on many shores of the country. This gives many an impression that seaweed is a useless plant and has no utility in our life. Once sensitized, I am sure, people will seize the opportunity with both hands,” he signs off.
What is seaweed?
- It is the name given to the many species of marine algae and plants. These species grow in water bodies like seas and oceans. The practice of cultivating and harvesting seaweed is known as Seaweed Farming.
- Seaweed Species in India: The commercially exploited seaweed species in India mainly include Kappaphycus alvarezii, Gracilaria edulis, Gelidiella acerosa, Sargassum spp. and Turbinaria spp.
- Uses of Seaweed Farming: They are rich in vitamins and minerals and are consumed as food in various parts of the world. They are used for the production of phytochemicals namely agar, carrageenan, and alginate. These phytochemicals are widely used as gelling, stabilizing, and thickening agents in several industries like food, confectionery and pharmaceuticals. Furthermore, they are used for the production of polysaccharides and fertilizer. They are also used in high-value products such as nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals which are used to cure various lifestyle diseases.
