TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Indonesia expects to become self-sufficient in salt in 2019
Change Size
A salt farmer collects salt from a salt farm in Santing village, Indramayu, West Java, in July. (Antara/Dedhez Anggara)
I
ndonesia, which has suffered from declining salt production in recent months, is set to become self-sufficient in the commodity by 2019 as a government team has begun the process of transforming idle land into salt fields.
Coordinating Maritime Minister Luhut Pandjaitan has received a report from a team established by the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry that has identified about 40,000 hectares of land that could be turned into salt farms.
“If we can finish the land acquisition process by the end of this year, self-sufficiency can be achieved in 2019,” Luhut said in his office on Monday.
Luhut said the government would appoint state-owned salt producer PT Garam to become the main salt producer, but private companies and communities of salt farmers will also be permitted to produce the commodity.
He said the government would increase salt productivity to 100 tons per hectare annually from 70 tons per hectare currently.
Indonesia is projected to produce 55,000 tons of salt for household consumption this August, compared to only 6,200 tons of salt produced within the period of May to July. (dis/bbn)
