Seaplants
and seaplant products as aids to agriculture and industry
The use of marine plants in terrestrial agriculture probably goes back
as far as the history of agriculture among coastal people. As far as we
know raw seaweeds and seaweed products (e.g. liquid hydrolysates;
products of composting; ash from burnt seaweeds) have been used for
millennia (and are still used today) as animal feeds, supplements to
animal feeds, soil conditioners, mineral sources and fertilizers or
plant foods.
One very large use of
seaplants in agriculture is the use of coralline algae (maërl) such as Phymatolithon
calcareum and Lithothamnion corallioides as soil
conditioners, trace element and mineral sources. They can also replace
bone meal in some feed applications and ground maërl is useful for
water filtration. These algae contain calcium and magnesium carbonates
that comprise up to 80% of the wet weight. Maërl is dredged off the
coasts of France (Brittany), England, and Ireland. Over 600,000 tons are
harvested each year from live and dead deposits. The dried, ground
product is favoured by organic farmers and horticulturists.
The SuriaLink Raw
Materials Community is being developed as an information source for this
important industry segment and we are also lining up trade facilitation
facilities to help buyers and sellers of these products to do business
with each other.
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