Indonesia expands community-based salt production with new centre in East Java

Indonesia's Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries is developing a community-based salt centre in Pamekasan District, East Java, to enhance national salt production and support local economic development. According to Head of the Pamekasan Marine Affairs and Fisheries Agency Abdul Fata, construction is under way in Majungan Village, with the project already undergoing monitoring by the relevant authorities, as reported by ANTARA.

The initiative forms part of Indonesia's strategy to achieve national salt self-sufficiency by 2027. The programme focuses on strengthening production capacity through infrastructure development, improvements in salt quality and the modernisation of processing facilities.

The central government has allocated approximately US$430,000 for the project. The new centre will include a high-tech salt processing facility and support the development of community-managed salt ponds, while locally produced salt will be processed to meet industrial quality standards.

Pamekasan has been identified as one of the country's key salt-producing regions alongside Sumenep and Sampang on Madura Island. The district's salt ponds cover 913.5 hectares across the sub-districts of Galis, Pademawu and Tlanakan, bringing together 15 salt-producing villages.

Abdul Fata noted that Pamekasan currently produces around 130,000 tonnes of salt annually. He expressed confidence that the completion of the Majungan salt centre would further increase production and reinforce the district's contribution to Indonesia's long-term food and resource development goals.