The hardships of the salt industry: Final episode - Strong policies are needed

The role of salt in production as well as in life cannot be denied. According to research, the main components in salt play a very important role in the existence and normal functioning of all organs in the human body. For industrial production, salt products are used as raw materials for the basic chemical industry, seafood processing, industrial production, food industry and other economic sectors. It can be said that the demand for salt is very large and diverse.

Important as it is, in reality, salt workers and the products they produce have not been truly valued. Over the years, salt prices have remained stagnant, life has been unstable, and many salt workers have left the profession. It is time to have a more comprehensive and accurate view of the profession that not only produces products that meet the essential needs of life but is also a traditional profession, with values ​​that preserve a Vietnamese cultural feature.

It must be affirmed that modern production methods and product consumption markets are extremely important factors in stabilizing and developing the salt industry that we need to strive for. In recent years, the state as well as Nghe An province have had mechanisms and policies in innovating production technology as well as consuming salt products. However, to make the lives of salt makers less precarious, stronger decisions are needed to expand production areas using new technology, increase productivity and quality of salt grains.

Only those who have been to the salt village during the main season, when the hot summer sun is shining brightly on the white salt fields shimmering under the sunlight, can fully appreciate the beauty and saltiness of the salt making profession. On the vast fields, the rows of squares and rows of salt spread out in a pure, sparkling white color. In the afternoon, each mound of salt is raked together, looking from afar like white hills. It is not an exaggeration to compare the salt grains with the salty sweat of the salt workers, because when the weather is the hottest, those are the hours when people toil under the sun to dry, wash the sand, pour water into the yard, and then when the salt grains have crystallized into a salty taste, "bursting" white, that is also the time when the salt workers are happy with the results of a hard, arduous day of labor.

In most salt villages in the province, salt farmers can do nothing but make salt, even though they know this is a hard job with low income. We think it is time for us to build a new direction, both to improve the lives of salt farmers and to preserve a traditional profession. In some localities, salt tourism villages have been built. This is a direction worth our attention.

According to experts, the salt industry can also create many other products besides salt such as tap water, mineral water made from sea salt. This is a premium drink, better than regular mineral water and has special effects on obese people and dieters. With such valuable products, if we expand further, invest in developing other accompanying services such as organizing tours of salt production processes, opening seafood specialty stalls, it will be able to attract tourists.

Phu Huong - Van Truong