Salt farmers at a production area in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu (Photo: VNA) Vietnam has advantages to help develop its salt production andprocessing industry, including its 3,200km coastline and high heat, Thinhsaid, adding that the country's salt production areas spreadfrom north to south, creating jobs for about 21,000 households.
However, the development of the domestic salt industry has encounteredmany difficulties, including small-scale and scattered production,under-developed infrastructure, modest volume and ineffective applicationof scientific advances, he noted.
The country is home to 72 salt production and processing units,including production and business households, cooperativesand enterprises. However, most are small scalewith insufficient capital and production capacity.
Bui Son Long, Chairman of the Sea Salt Technology JSC in Hanoi, said at arecent webinar that the salt industry needed to make fundamentalchanges towards producing and processing according to the needsof the market to better meet increasing domestic and exportdemand.
Closer co-operation amonglocalities with salt production areas should be also included, Long said.
Tran Thanh Nam, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,agreed. He emphasised the importance of finding outthe needs of the market and the tastes of consumers.
"In the past, we had invested in salt industry infrastructurewithout knowing what consumers needed. This is the first lessonwe should learn," Nam said.
"We should provide the market with the saltproducts it needs,” he added.
It is also necessary to focus on building geographical indications andbrands in the salt industry to raise the income of both salt farmers andproducers.
According to a report by MARD, Vietnam’s salt production area in2021 reached 11,393ha, lower than the 11,926ha,12,494ha and 13,074ha seen in 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
The decreasing area of salt production was attributed to low incomefrom salt production so salt farmers gradually converted inefficientproduction areas to aquaculture or switched to other occupations, resulting inseveral salt production areas being abandoned.
Last year, the country's salt output hit nearly 915,000 tonnes, farlower than the record of more than 1.33 million tonnes seen in 2020.
Currently, the price of unprocessed salt ranges from 600- 2,500 VNDper kg while industrially produced salt is sold between 600 and 1,500 VND perkg.
Vietnam will study and pilot combining salt production and tourism topromote the sustainable development of the industry, according to theGovernment’s recently-approved salt industry development project for 2021-30.
The country will combine salt production with tourism at several villages,including Thuy Hai (Thai Binh province), Bach Long (Nam Dinh), Ho Do, Ky Ha-KyAnh (Ha Tinh), Sa Huynh (Quang Ngai), Hon Khoi (Khanh Hoa) and Can Gio (HCMCity).
The project aims to develop the salt industry towards efficiency andsustainability, based on the advantages of localities with a history ofsalt production to increase productivity, quality and diversify salt products.
Vietnam aims to have 14,500ha of salt farming with an output of 1.5million tonnes per year by 2025. In the next five years, the focus will be onproducing salt to meet domestic demand with healthy natural minerals andmicronutrients with low sodium content.
Total salt farming is targeted to drop to 14,244ha by 2030 but annualoutput is hoped to increase by two million tonnes.
Salt production will be developed on an industrial scale in Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuanand Binh Thuan provinces to meet the demand of the chemical industry and forraw materials to produce refined salt.
Smaller-scale production will be developed in Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa,Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Ngai, Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Ben Tre, TraVinh, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, Ca Mau provinces and HCM City.
Support will be provided to develop supply chains for the salt industry.
Increasing the appliance of science and technology in salt production andprocessing to minimise the impact of climate change and enhancing promotionsto export more salt are also part of the plan./.
VNA
