Pangasinan, BFAR join hands for salt industry development

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, Philippines – The Pangasinan provincial government has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Region 1 to develop its salt industry.

The MOA was signed last Tuesday by Pangasinan Gov. Ramon Guico III and BFAR-I OIC Regional Director Girly dela Pena at the Urduja House in this capital town.

The project includes the construction of a Shared Service Facility, which includes a 12-ton capacity salt warehouse, a twin cooking structure, and a salt crusher with a shed at the Pangasinan Salt Center in Bolinao town.

When implemented, the facilities are expected to improve both the production and quality of salt, while also reducing postharvest losses among local salt producers in Pangasinan.

The Pangasinan Salt Center is a 473-hectare salt farm in Barangay Zaragoza that produces 25,000 tons of salt yearly.    

READ: Pangasinan farm targets to produce 8,500 metric tons of salt

The salt farm was once privately owned. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources did not renew the foreshore lease contract that expired in 2002.

In December 2022, the provincial government entered into a management contract with the DENR to operate the salt farm, which is one of the biggest in the country./coa /atm