An economic and profitability assessment between agarophytes and Kappaphycus alvarezii farming in India.

Blue economy approach is slowly gaining significance, and many nations are placing it on their national agendas to strengthen the maritime policy. The sustainable exploitation of marine resources is the key to achieving blue economic development including commercial seaweed farming. The production of red seaweeds with superior-quality agar in India has propelled research to develop viable cultivation technologies. However, the carragenophyte Kappaphycus alvarezii has more industrial support and is the only seaweed taxa commercially farmed in India. The present investigation offers a comparative economic case study between these two groups. Critical economic parameters were analyzed for important operational components, i.e., individual-centric operation and family-centric operation, under three scenarios namely, without subsidy and 40% and 60% subsidy respectively. A lowest payback period was noticed for K. alvarezii cultivated by the family-centric operation under all three scenarios (without subsidy: 0.76 year; 40% subsidy: 0.61 year; 60% subsidy: 0.53 year). However, the minimum breakeven point in the range of 7.3–10.1 dry tons was reported in the case of farming of Gracilaria dura under different subsidies, followed by K. alvarezii (breakeven point value: 15.1–22 dry tons). The net present value and internal rates of return of K. alvarezii were found to be 3123–8863 USD and 31–90%, respectively under different subsidies. All four agarophytes resulted in negative net present values irrespective of subsidy scenario and hence, it is not economically viable. In terms of profit, among five seaweeds, K. alvarezii only showed a profit of 328–902 USD and 4905–10,646 USD for individual and family-centric models, respectively. The more comprehensive analysis with realistic costing—considering uncertain weather conditions and disease infestation—also pointed out the superiority of family-centric operations. The projections from economic analysis revealed that commercial farming of agarophyte is not viable at individual and family-centric operations, but K. alvarezii farming is viable for both operations in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]