Seaweed Farming — Pamban and Rameswaram Tamil Nadu

The shallow coral waters around Pamban and Rameswaram (Ramanathapuram) support India's largest seaweed farming industry. Women divers of the Pattinavar community harvest wild Gracilaria and Kappaphycus seaweeds from rock beds; CSMCRI (Bhavnagar) helped transfer rope-raft cultivation. Dried seaweed is processed into agar, carrageenan, and liquid seaweed fertiliser. India produces 30,000+ MT dried seaweed annually. Seaweed fertiliser is now promoted under organic farming schemes. Japanese and Korean buyers source Rameswaram seaweed for food-grade agar. MPEDA and Spices Board support coastal seaweed cooperatives.