Traditional salt farmers in Bali are very rare. This is due to the raising of salt material from Madura in addition to the numbers of salt factories in city. Thus, make the existence of salt farmer existence in Bali becoming more and more shifted.

Furthermore, land limitation as a condemnation effect make lots of salt farmer leave their profession. But there are farmers who choose to survive although its number keep decrease. Besides, another reason for them leaving this profession is because capital dependency. The reason is those salt farmers who bought raw salt material willingly or not, they have to spend quite big number of capital fund.

As confessed by I Nyoman Puja (54) that before there are hundreds of salt farmers but nowadays it gradually decreased. Formerly, the land is good, the soil black and not easily get tide. There is also no land condemnation in addition to the small number of salt factory at that time.

“Condition in the past is not as too difficult as today,” said Puja Sembari whilst added that together with several changes make the farmers become lazy make them choose other profession,” said Puja who is one of the oldest salt farmer in Pasanggrahan area.

My old experience was so hard, starting from the land I made with my family without have to spend any cost, looking for firewood with family, all of it done with full sincerity, not like those lazy people who only want simplicity,” said the farmer who has become salt farmer for 20 years.

The most interesting part is, for all along the consumer come directly to the farmer and most of them are people from hotels, regular people up to the merchants in market. Suminto sell his pure salt with per sac selling. Each sac weight for 18 kilogram as one kilogram sold for Rp 35.000 and his every customer has known this price. In one day, Suminto could sell four to five sacks. But still he lack of stock since he had kind of short fund and man power.

Suminto also confessed that in the past, salt making process is more difficult because they have to make it everything from the beginning, starting from sea foam and basking provision,” he said.

In contrast with the past, the farmers nowadays tend to buy raw salt material from Madura. This raw salt then melted to purify it cost two or three hours. After it purified, the salt processed in the processing vessel by boiling it,” said Suminto. The boiling part of that mixing salt cost four to five hours. In the boiling process, Suminto says that the raw material need to be stirred continuously until it boil and issued white foam from originally brown foam.

Suminto says the difference between factory product and traditional product is more refining but lack of salt concentration. And if the color not as white as it should be means that the process less accuracy so that feces is not filtered. Most of them quickly damp.

News by Nusa Bali