Salt of the earth

Salt had once been considered so valuable, soldiers in the Roman army were sometimes paid with salt instead of money. Their monthly allowance was called “salarium” (“sal” being the Latin word for salt). It eventually made it into the English language as the word “salary.”

We have taken salt for granted. Our archipelagic country has lost its capacity to produce salt for our own needs. Today, 93 percent of the salt we use is imported. Here are more facts that should make us cry.

We are behind Vietnam in salt production. Yet, we have 11 times more coastline at 36,000 kilometers compared to Vietnam’s 3,260 kilometers.

We only have 2,500 hectares devoted to salt making compared to Vietnam’s 14,814 hectares. We produce only 100,000 MT of salt compared to Vietnam’s 1.1 million MT.

In terms of employment, our salt industry employs 9,000 people compared to Vietnam’s 78,600. In terms of government support, Vietnam has a vision for developing its National Salt Industry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. We have none.

Our salt industry is controlled by two large importers from Australia and China where most of our salt requirements come from. Yet we are capable of supplying our total requirements.

The worst part is, practically all of the salt we import is industrial-grade salt designed primarily for chemical and chlor-alkali industries for making paper, hydrochloric acid, etc. used for production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other plastics.

This industrial salt we import is treated to eliminate its magnesium, potassium, and calcium content to make it pure sodium chloride. This salt is not suitable for human consumption, but we consume it anyway.

Most of our salt consumption (65 percent) is for cooking food. Imported industrial salt is grinded to approximate the grain size of local sea salt so it can be sold to households through local public markets.

People in the salt industry told me we can do a whole lot better.

On top of their wish list is government support. Their first problem is getting leases for foreshore areas suitable for salt beds. This has to be approved by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

Over the past decade or two, BFAR has sat on almost all applications. Without legal standing, the local salt industry could not make capital investments to improve the industry’s productivity.

Now BFAR is issuing press releases that they will spend P100 million to revive the local salt industry. BFAR could just start acting on long pending applications for foreshore leases for salt beds.

The local salt industry thinks it is easy to be self-sufficient in salt and save all the forex spent on imported salt, as well create local jobs. After all, making salt is not rocket science. We only need suitable land near the sea and a lot of sun.

The local salt people are confident that with government support, they can scale up salt production to attain national salt self-sufficiency. Here is their arithmetic.

They need a productivity of 45 MT/hectare, to produce the needed 850,000 MT to replace the current imported salt and meet the new projected salt demand. To do that, they will require an area of about 18,888 hectares of salt beds.

They said they only need 129 km. of shoreline to cover 18,888 hectares. This is only 4.3 percent  of the shoreline of the 10 provinces most ideal for salt making. This is only 0.35 percent of the shoreline of the entire Philippines.

The estimated cost to construct a 470-hectare salt farm/fishpond is at P143 million per salt farm. To construct 43 salt farms will cost only P6.149 billion, which can be spread over 15 to 20 years of investment.

Because salt has over 14,000 uses, the salt making industry believes achieving salt self-sufficiency will contribute to our country’s agro-industrial development. It also enhances food security.

They cited the example of the coconut industry as a potential big user of salt. The use of sodium chloride (NaCl) or common salt as fertilizer is apparently a practical means of increasing coconut production.

Salt is the cheapest and best source of chlorine to increase copra yield. Chlorine deficiency in coconut is widespread in inland areas. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the use of 1.76 kg NaCl/tree per year resulted in 36.6 percent increase in nuts, 44.8 percent increase in copra/nut and 96.7 percent increase in copra/tree.

With the full implementation of RA 11524 or the Coconut Farmers and Industry Fund Act, there will be an additional requirement of 300,000 MT/year of salt.

So, what is the salt industry asking for? Initially, they are asking the President to certify House Bill 1976 or the Philippine Salt Industry Development Act. It had been introduced in the House by Congressman Ron Salo.  They want government commitment to a full development of the salt industry to attain self-sufficiency.

The salt making industry needs additional areas for salt production. They have initially identified some provinces on the western side of the country with weather conditions ideal for salt making.

They also want the Board of Investment to include the creation of new salt farms in the Investment Priority List. They have set a national target for salt self-sufficiency at 850,000 MT.

As for the ASIN Law that has been blamed for the decline of the industry, they said they are not against the concept of iodizing salt. It is a health concern in some areas of the country.

But they agree that the total ban on non-iodized salt should be changed to allow for the commercial sale of locally produced sea salt, specially those artisanal salts like the tibuok of Bohol and gourmet salt that can be registered.

Also, salt meant for export must be available for sale locally as non-iodized salt. Many export markets, including the US and Japan, require certification by our FDA that our for-export salt is also for sale locally.

Being salt of the earth means “an individual or group considered as representative of the best or noblest elements of society.”

Message to BFAR, Congressmen, Senators and Junior: Be the salt of earth for a change and revive a simple industry. We have no reason to fail.

Boo Chanco’s email address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco.