Marine Affairs And Fisheries Minister Trenggono Encourages The Cooperation To Increase Local Salt Selling Power

ILLUSTRATION/ANTARA

JAKARTA - Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono has asked the cooperation of salt farmers in Indramayu, West Java, to increase the selling power of the products they produce. One of the ways is by preparing salt in the packaged form so that it can be sold directly to the market.

According to Trenggono, salt production in Indramayu Regency reached 361 thousand tons last year. However, the absorption is not comprehensive because the salt produced by the farmer groups is only sold to factories to be processed again into packaged salt.

As a result, every year there is only salt stored in the warehouse because the factory also has limitations in processing it. For last year's production, for example, there are still around 37,000 tons of salt which are currently stored in salt warehouses in Cirebon.

"If that is the case, it is packaged so that it can be sold directly to the market, not only to factories," Trenggono said in a written statement, Sunday, March 14.

Meanwhile, Sari Bobos Amin Muhaimin, the head of the People's Salt Cooperative (GIR), explained that currently sales still depend on factory needs because permits to support packaged salt production are being processed. One of them is the distribution permit from BPOM.

In addition, his party also needs assistance from the government so that the packaged salt produced will have high competitiveness so that it is not inferior to salts produced by large factories.

"Licensing is being processed, sir," said Amin to Trenggono.

In addition, the central government, through the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, is providing assistance to a washing plant or salt processing unit in Krangkeng Sub-district to boost Indramayu's local salt productivity.

There is also, the washing plant was established last year and is part of the National Economic Recovery Program. The production capacity of this washing plant reaches 20 tons per day. Meanwhile, the value of the salt produced reaches IDR 1,800 per kilogram.

Director-General of Marine Space Management, Tb Haeru Rahayu, said this washing plant has proven to boost salt productivity in Indramayu. Earlier, farmers complained about the higher production costs than the selling price of salt.

"But now they can get a profit of up to IDR 600 per kilogram of salt produced. In addition, the salt produced is also hygienic because the process uses a touch of technology," he said.