Noveleta revives salt making industry

AFTER several years of inactivity, salt making has returned in Noveleta, one of the two towns in the province of Cavite that is currently producing salt.

With the help of the Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Municipal Agriculture Office, salt farmers in Noveleta have been producing 125 sacks of salt per week or roughly 500 sacks per month.

Municipal Agriculture Office chief Mark Anthony Alfaro said salt making in the locality began declining in the 2000s because of Republic Act (RA) 8172 or the Asin Law that seeks to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders by mandating all salt producers and manufacturers to iodize their products.

“It was no longer profitable because the sale of salt from other parts of the country like Pangasinan and Mindoro is cheaper,” Alfaro said.

But under the Development of Salt Industry Project, the government has lured salt makers back into business.

Olan Palustre, a local salt maker, said they are able to harvest 10 to 17 sacks of salt per day which they can sell in the market for P300 to P350 per sack.

BFAR has identified Noveleta and Barangay Sta. Isabel in Kawit town as the two remaining saltproducing areas in Cavite.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed into law on March 11, 2024 the Philippine Salt Industry Development Act which aims to strengthen and revitalize the salt industry in the Philippines as part of the administration’s efforts to promote rural development and increase rural income.

The law stated that appropriate technology and research, and adequate financial, production, marketing and other support services will be provided to salt farmers to revitalize the salt industry, attain increased production, achieve salt-sufficiency and become a next exporter of salt.

A Philippine Salt Industry Development Roadmap will be formulated and established to ensure the attainment of the objectives of the law, which are aligned with the objectives and continued implementation of RA 8172.