According to the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc., despite being surrounded by salt water, the country imports 93% of its salt demands. Mindoro Has the First Philippine-Built Salt Harvester
In any case, the government’s recent enthusiasm for expanding domestic salt production suggests we may soon become less reliant on costly imports. For instance, a processing factory in Occidental Mindoro just handed over a salt harvester machine and salt washer technologies.
This salt harvester machine was created in the Philippines by JALD Industries Corporation with support from the DOST’s Collaborative Research and Development to Leverage the Philippine Economy program.
It could take several months to produce enough salt by hand without machinery during the salt-making season. With the salt harvester, manufacturing may be completed in about two weeks. According to the DOST, the machine is “designed to mechanize the process of crushing, washing, and harvesting salt in deep crystallizer saltern.”
The government thinks the salt harvester may help the local salt business and fabrication sector if it were adopted by other salt processing facilities in the country.