AFTER more than two years, the 473-hectare salt farm in Barangay Zaragoza in Bolinao town will finally start producing salt again.

But this time, it will be the provincial government operating it, not the Pacific Farms Inc., whose foreshore lease contract had expired in 2020 and was not renewed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

The salt farm, which was shut down in February 2021, used to be the country’s largest salt producer, contributing up to 25,000 metric tons (MT) a year to the country’s total salt production.

According to Nestor Batalla, assistant provincial agriculturist, preliminary activities in the farm will start in July so harvesting salt can begin in October.

Last December, Gov. Ramon Guico III signed a memorandum of agreement with the DENR for the “interim management” of the farm for salt production and other related activities, including bangus production.

“We have a crisis in salt, and with this development, we are able to respond to the call of President Marcos to contribute to national food security,” said Governor Guico. 

Pangasinan, whose name is derived from the local term for salt (“asin”), is the country’s largest salt producer. The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist reported that the province produced 64,156 MT from its 1,432.4-hectare salt farms located in seven towns and Alaminos City in 2021.

Governor Guico’s special assistant Von Mark Mendoza, a former board member, said the provincial government will introduce innovations to increase the volume of salt produced at the Zaragoza farm. i.e., plastic-roofed tunnels will be built over the salt beds to enable them to continue producing salt even when it is raining.

Mendoza learned more about salt production technology during a recent benchmarking visit to Indonesia, where the tunnel system in salt farms is widely used. He said the tunnel system increased salt production by up to about 30 percent.

He added that instead of installing tiles on the salt beds, high-density polyethylene will be used for higher yield and to produce better quality salt.

“One thing unique in Indonesia is that they have a salt production area that is state-owned. But through the initiative of the Governor, the provincial government itself is now venturing into salt production,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza was with Batalla, Board Member Philip Theodore Cruz, Engr. Amadeo Veras of the Provincial Engineer’s Office, and Sydney Soriano of the Provincial Information Office during the five-day visit to Indonesia. (Pangasinan-PIO)

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