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An Indian startup could revolutionize ocean farming with its 'sea combine harvester'
CNN
Seaweed is an increasingly attractive crop, but current farming methods make it expensive. This startup wants to bring down the costs with its automated "Sea Combine."
Usually, seaweed is grown on ropes or nets suspended in the ocean, but current techniques make large-scale cultivation near impossible. Ocean farming is in the "stone ages," according to Shrikumar Suryanarayan, co-founder and CEO of Bangalore-based Sea6 Energy and former head of research and development at Biocon, an Indian pharmaceutical company specializing in biologically-sourced medicines. "It's like using a trowel and a pick to farm land."
Founded in 2010, Sea6 Energy wants to mechanize ocean farming, just as tractors did for agriculture, with its "Sea Combine," an automated catamaran that simultaneously harvests and replants seaweed in the ocean.