Salt Farming 101

This week I went to Ban Dung and saw a salt farm, and then harvested rice. First, the salt farm:

They pump water from the earth, which has salt in it I guess, and put it in small plots of land. In about a week, the water dries out, leaving just the salt. This salt is then gathered and ground (before grinding, it looks kind of like salt used to melt ice). Once ground, it’s put in large 50kg bags. 1000kg of this “black salt” (although it’s just off white) sells for 500 baht, about $15. This salt is used in industry, not to eat.

Here is the team grinding the salt and impressing me with their strength to carry these 50 kg bags.

To "make salt" that's suitable for cooking or eating, the water is taken from the ground and put in large vats. It’s boiled for about 1 day, with paracetamol (which is Tylenol!) and some rice. This helps the color to be white, and this salt is suitable for eating. A 5kg bag sells for about 8 baht, or 25 cents. Amazing!!

This farm we visited made the most of their land and their resources. They used the husks that are removed from the rice when it is harvested, as well as corn husks to make the fire. They also raised fish around the outside of the salt fields, as well as Eucalyptus trees. These didn’t seem related to the salt farming, but it was interesting none the less.

The downside of this salt farming village was that there was no grass, in fact the ground surrounding all the little huts and houses was filled with piles of what looked like black sand…the remains of the fires that were used to boil the salt. As we drove out of the village, we of course bought 10kg of salt from the farmers who were so gracious to explain the process to us.

Final step: weigh the salt and sell itat stands all along the roadside....as well as send it Bangkok and beyond.