Plant & Food Research NZ: Sargassum seaweed-derived liquid fertilizer

Opportunity for

• Partners harvesting sargassum with capacity to host a pilot plant to process liquid fertilizer
• Licencing and/or distribution partners for sargassum-derived liquid fertilizer
• Partners seeking to collaborate and incorporate seaweed as an input for innovative products

Opportunity description

Industry challenge

Sargassum seaweed influxes have been a bane to the Caribbean and other regions since 2011, blocking light to coral reefs and it is also known to contain high levels of heavy metals.

PFR, along with our regional partners are advancing a project aimed at turning Sargassum into innovative products such as liquid fertilizer for use on vegetable crops, both in field and glasshouse environments. This aims to mitigate the negative impacts of Sargassum in the region and in turn, create jobs and income as well as contribute to building the region’s climate resilience.

Current opportunity

Based on the successful outcome of recent scientific studies and greenhouse trials for a Sargassum-derived liquid fertilizer, we will commence field trials within the next few weeks on commercial crops at several sites in the Caribbean region and are open to establishing trials in other regions facing similar issues with Sargassum.

We seek distribution partners, manufacturers, companies engaged in harvesting of seaweed and other partners who could contribute to the project.

Opportunity background

Since the project's inception in 2020, PFR have been working diligently to develop safe harvesting and handling techniques. There has been rigorous testing to ensure safety from hazardous heavy metals throughout the product development process, all along the value chain—from harvesting through to pilot scale production, as well as greenhouse trials that utilized the prototype product to grow vegetables.

Potential other applications

Sargassum seaweed is proving to be very versatile and has a broad range of use cases, especially given its abundance in the ecosystem. We are interested in talking to any interested parties who are looking to incorporate seaweed as an input for innovative products across all industries.