EUCHEUMA SPP

• Prepare all the necessary harvesting materials such as baskets, sacks, knife and goggles.

• Prepare the drying area.

• harvestable when they reach the weight between 750–850 g

• After 6-8 weeks or 40-50 days

• Buyers encourage harvesting predominantly older plants in order to obtain higher gel strength/ viscosity

• bigger propagules = higher yield

• Variation among farm areas with respect to propagulesize at planting and harvesting

• part of the maintenance procedure by pruning the harvestable plants and allowing them to regenerate.

• may cause quality problems related to an unfavorable mix of young and old tissue in the crop

• Stripping plants from lines

HARVESTING PROCEDURES Go row by row through the farm, harvest each plant by

pruning. Remove branches from each plant using a sharp stainless knife. Leave about 200 g on each plant for regeneration.

In total harvesting, just cut the allowance portion of the tie in-between the plant and the nylon line.

Using scoop nets, scoop harvested plants.

Collect all harvested plants in the banca

Paddle the banca to the drying area when it is already full

Unload, weigh and keep a record of all the harvests before spreading them to dry.

• Near farm to avoid breakage

• Above ground for air circulation –rotting

• Dry to atleast 35% moisture

DRYING Contd… Spread the harvested seaweed thinly on drying

platform

Use coconut palm as flooring when drying in land

Never dry the seaweed directly on soil- contamination.

Turn the seaweeds at regular intervals

cover the harvest to protect from the rain

crispy and have a rubbery touch.(well dried)

Remove non-Eucheuma

Package in sacks/lace up

Record weight, store(clean, dry, well ventilated), sell

NB: Storage time should be minimum