Multi-value products from salt

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Vo Van Hung said that climate change and extreme weather that occurred earlier and became more severe have had a strong impact on salt production, due to the low rate of mechanization in the fields and lack of storage facilities. Salt is a labor-intensive industry but the income is low, so there is competition for labor between the salt industry and other industries.

According to Deputy Minister Vo Van Hung, due to low income from salt production, some salt farmers have abandoned their fields to find other jobs with higher incomes. Not to mention, the average income of salt workers is currently only nearly 40 million VND/year, only 70% of the national average income.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Vo Van Hung highly appreciated the efforts of Bac Lieu province in preserving and promoting the value of salt grains in the past time. At the same time, he affirmed that in the coming time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will focus on improving output, quality, diversifying products, promoting production, processing and consumption of salt in the country.

Invest in developing salt production in areas with favorable natural conditions in a concentrated, large-scale manner. Form an industrial salt production area with modern technology, linking production with processing, recovery of post-salt products and other economic sectors such as rural tourism and health care and beauty services.

Develop the salt industry in a synchronous manner in the fields of production, processing, preservation and consumption of salt. Link the restructuring of salt production with technological innovation. Invest in upgrading salt field infrastructure to improve productivity, quality and efficiency per unit area. Ensure livelihoods and increase income for salt farmers, towards getting rich from the salt industry.

Need more policy mechanisms to support investment in salt industry development

Chairman of Bac Lieu Provincial People's Committee Pham Van Thieu stated that the salt industry has been facing many challenges. Climate change affects productivity and salt quality, and market competition factors make salt prices unstable and often low. Income from salt production is lower than other industries, affecting the preservation and conservation of Bac Lieu's traditional salt production.

Therefore, it requires attention and investment from all levels and sectors to support the salt industry towards product diversification, not only for eating salt but also for beauty, medicinal salt, and salt for industrial production.

According to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, after the Government issued Decree No. 40/2017/ND-CP on management of salt production and trading, the Ministry has proactively coordinated with ministries, branches and localities to implement many solutions to effectively perform the function of state management of salt production, processing and trading. At the same time, it has developed and issued mechanisms, policies, regulations on expenditure levels and arranged capital sources from the local budget annually to support investment in salt production development.

The average salt output in the period 2017 - 2024 will reach an average of nearly 1 million tons/year. The average salt production workforce in the period 2017 - 2020 will be 41,247 people, and by 2024 will decrease to about 19,000 people.

Regarding production methods, the country currently has 19 provinces and cities, including 40 districts and 116 communes with salt production. Of which, the North has 5 provinces, the Central has 7 provinces and the South has 7 provinces.

Currently, nationwide there are 73 salt processing facilities of all economic sectors participating in the production of refined salt, iodized salt, clean salt for export... Of which, 13 salt processing facilities have invested in applying scientific and technological advances, with a capacity of 15,000 - 22,000 tons/year and 1 facility has invested in 2 synchronous equipment lines imported from Spain with a capacity of 200,000 tons/year.

Among them, the most diverse salt products are those used in food and drink. Salt products from some localities have been exported to Europe, the US, Japan, Korea, etc. and have established distribution channels in major supermarkets such as BigC, Copmak, Vinmart, and the Bach Hoa Xanh retail system.

In Bac Lieu alone, with a production area of ​​nearly 1,400 hectares, the output is nearly 80,000 tons/year. Among the province's 160 OCOP products, there are many products directly related to salt.

Source: https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/da-gia-tri-san-pham-tu-muoi-de-nang-cao-doi-song-diem-dan-387390.html