Seaweed is usually planted every 35 days. After the harvest, farmers dry the seaweed under the sun for two to three days, depending on the season. During the rainy season, drying can take a week. Dried seaweed is sold by the farmers to traders, who will then resell to other big cities for processing before being exported.
A farmer usually sells between 500 kilograms to 1 ton per month with a low price of only Rp 7,000 (77 US cents) to Rp 8,000 per kilogram.
However, the farmers have been negatively affected by the tourist boom on the small island located southeast of Bali – Lembongan. With more villas and other tourist facilities being built there, farmers are beginning to lose space to dry the seaweed under the sun.
Also young generations prefer to work on the tourist industry where they can earn more money. While old people don’t have any other choice than being a farmer because they don’t have more skills and neither do they speak english.