Salt farmers in Rakhine state have increased profits by nearly four times by applying new technology in their production, Rakhine State Salt Producers Association said.
The farmers used plastic technology in their production – a method that uses plastic sheeting as bedding to decrease the humidity in the soil, which in turn helps decrease drying time, according to U Than Win, secretary of the Association.
The price of the salt produced by drying in the sunlight is K20 per viss (1.6 kilograms), while the salt produced by using the new technology fetch K60 a viss because of their higher quality, he added.
“This technique using plastic in salt production reduces production time as well as increases the amount of production,” U Than Win told Myanmar Business Today.
Prompted by a request from salt farmers in Rakhine state to provide support to improve the quality of the salts, the chief minister instructed state-owned Myanmar Salt and Marine Chemical Enterprise to provide technical support to increase the quality of locally produced salt so that they are on par with salt imported from Thailand.
The enterprise with the technical and financial support from UNICEF, conducted assessments on salt producers in Rakhine state after which the technical know-how has been disseminated among the salt farmers in the state, U Aung Gyi, Rakhine state manager of the enterprise, said.
“Because salt farmers in Rakhine requested support to improve the quality of salt, the government, with the help of UNICEF, fostered the use of plastic technology,” he said.
