SALT PRODUCTION. A worker at a salt farm in a Pangasinan town gathers salt. The national government has allocated PHP100 million to boost the salt industry in the Ilocos Region. (Photo courtesy of BFAR Ilocos Region)
BOLINAO, Pangasinan – The national government has allocated PHP100 million to help revive the salt industry in the Ilocos Region.
In a statement Thursday, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Ilocos Region officer-in-charge Rosario Segundina Gaerlan said the initial projects are focused on small-scale salt production, helping the producers to have better storage, hygienic handling, marketing, and even laboratory tests.
She said the Pangasinan State University (PSU) has proposed to establish the Advance Salt Innovation Center for research.
“I asked PSU to submit the proposal, which we will include in the road map for salt,” Gaerlan said.
Department of Agriculture (DA) Ilocos Region executive director Nestor Domenden said the programs and projects must benefit both the farmers and the salt producers.
“Salt is a prime commodity. Without it, we will have no bagoong, no patis. If the local industry dies, we will have to import again, like what we are doing with bangus fry which we import a big bulk of our need,” Domenden said. (PNA)
