Baliapal: Salt farming was once a cottage industry in the Bolang panchayat of Baliapal block in Balasore, but it we into decline due to lack of government support and the widespread use of packaged iodised salt. Over the years, many salt farmers said goodbye to salt farming and adopted other occupations.
Reports say that salt farming had been going in the area since 80 years, but declined in the last few decades. Over 500 families in the area eke out a living through salt farming. They said they have been facing a crisis after the government issued a directive to use iodised salt.
Locals said the government had provided machines and laboratory to iodise salt, but they broke down. But the government did not help to make the machines and the laboratory functional. The result was that their salt remained unsold. In some cases, farmers were compelled to sell salt at throwaway prices.
As crisis gripped the salt farming sector farmers started giving up the occupation and migrated in search of work. As a result 500 families are facing problems. Many of them are now working as labourers in West Bengal.
The government had set up a cooperative society and had declared salt manufacturing an industry in 1970. The society ran successfully till 1996. After 1996 packed iodised salt gained ground in the market. Another problem was the government imposing 20 per cent tax on salt farmers. After that the society started incurring losses. But the government provided no support to salt farmers.
Farmers said that people buy packaged salt for anything between Rs 15 to 20 a kg now. Had the government procured Bolang salt and taken steps to make it iodised, people could have got it at Rs 8 to 10 per kg and livelihoods could have been saved.
They said the salt produced at Bolang is better than that produced at Humma, Suranda and Sumani in Ganjam district.
Upendra Jena, a salt famer said, “As the government does not provide support we incur losses in salt farming.”
The government should revive the society so that farmers can produce iodised salt, said farmers Amulya Mohanty, Kabita Mohanty, Bhagwan Samant and Shantilata Jena. PNN
