Pangasinan salt farms attract tourists. Environmental protection ensures cleaner salt. Salt industry needs promotion and support.

salt industry is the backbone of Pangasinan.

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LAND OF SALT

Located 250 kilometers to the north on Manila Pangasinan is a province of the Philippines famous for producing salt.

In fact, salt (asin) gives it its name since it has a well developed salt producing industry.

It is located on the west coast of the island of Luzon along the Lingayen Gulf and South China Sea.
In addition, it is a large scale producer of:
• Mangoes,
• Bamboo products like handicrafts,
• Rice,
• Milkfish.

The Hundred Islands National park is one of the most famous places of interest in Pangisinan. It is located near the town of Alaminos on the Lingayen Gulf. A majority of the islands are uninhabited and quite small; visitors and locals visit only during the day.

The smaller islands do not have adequate facilities; hence, they do not get many visitors.

However, the larger islands have all that you could ask for.

Those islands that are adequately equipped to handle tourists are:
• Quezon Island,
• Governor Island, and
• The children’s Island.

The largest of these islands is Quezon with a population of 1,740,638 persons in May 1, 2010. The above islands provide wholesome entertainment including:
1. Jet skiing,
2. Kayaking,
3. Parasailing
4. Windsurfing,
5. Snorkeling,
6. Big game fishing and
7. Water sports.

Growing Interest in Salt

For the last century or so salt production is providing a livelihood to local farmers. The towns along the western coast have salt farms of various dimensions.

But, now the sprawling farms are attracting domestic and foreign visitors who have an interest to know more. Motorists stop on the highway and talk to the local farmers about various aspects of salt production.

Moreover, even the officials of other provinces have been visiting Pangasinan to learn the intricacies of salt production. Furthermore, the agriculturist of a town explained that visitors from Bukidnon province and Calabarzon were some of those who enquired.

Each salt bed is known as banigan and each town has thousands of salt beds. The provinces that have been leading in salt production are:
• Pangasinan,
• Bulacan, many of the salt farms have moved on to constructing fish ponds that are more productive, and
• Occidental Mindoro.
Many Bulacan farmers are selling off the tiles of their farms to move on to fishing.

How they work

One farm worker is normally required for about 25 banigan; thus, there are up to 400 farm workers in a small town of 10,000 banigan.

Salt making begins in October and during December to May, salt harvesting takes place; till the rains start. The earnings of a worker are approximately about one third of the total salt produced from the 25 banigan.

One quarry measuring 20 ft x 18 ft produces 30 bags of salt, each weighing 60 Kg. The peak season starts in March and a helper is required.

In addition, the industry requires the services of:
• Porters to carry the shipment,
• Basket makers to prepare the baskets, and
• Boatmen to transport the produce.

They move a major portion of salt over rivers to the exit points. The process starts by trapping the sea water into ponds to use it during neap tides. Sunlight turns the brackish water to salt.

When the salt crystallizes, the workers use rakes to collect in baskets to carry it to the storage areas. The workers load the salt into sacks for the final journey for dispatch.

Efforts are now on to amalgamate these salt farms with tourism initiatives. Clean rivers are a vital necessity for getting good quality of salt. Furthermore, we need to protect the environment since it has a bearing on salt production.

Therefore, mangroves are preserved and maintained; they serve to filter the water efficiently. This is necessary since clean water produces white salt. If water is dirty, the color of salt will be yellowish.

That is why the town of Dasol emerged as the regional champion in coastal resources management in 2014 and 2015. The cleanliness of its rivers also brought in several awards.

The local government celebrates the Asin festival in April every year.

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Umrao Singh
umraoz.wordpress.com
Written for: Lars-Magnus Carlsson.
www.thephilippinepride.com
Wednesday, April 26, 2017

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