Phillippines university ties up with CSMCRI to develop salt technology
Rajkot: Despite having one of the world's longest coastlines, salt production in the Philippines is negligible. To overcome challenges it faces in salt manufacturing, the country has sought the expertise of the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSIR-CSMCRI) in Bhavnagar, a premier institution in salt technology .
The Philippines has a coastline of over 36,000km yet it produces only 7% to 8% of its annual salt requirement of 7 lakh metric tonnes. In contrast, Gujarat, with a coastline of just 1,600km, produces approximately 2.4 crore tonnes of salt each year.
Experts cite climatic conditions including frequent La Nina events, which bring heavy rain and cooler temperatures, along with the lack of modern technology and infrastructure such as coastal roads, as major obstacles to salt production in the Philippines.
To address these issues, Pangasinan State University (PSU) in the Philippines is establishing the Accelerating Salt Research and Innovation (ASIN) initiative. PSU has been in discussions with CSIR-CSMCRI for over a year to collaborate on developing advanced salt production technologies, including membrane technology and marine biotechnology.
Earlier this month, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in Bhavnagar between PSU and CSIR-CSMCRI for technology transfer.
The event was attended by delegates from the Philippine department of science and technology (DOST) and Mariano Marcos State University.
"There are many challenges the Philippines faces in salt production, particularly due to climate. Salt production requires prolonged dry weather, but their coastal regions get rain almost every month. We will help them develop technologies that enable faster salt production through forced evaporation and enhanced evaporation rates," said Dr Arvind Kumar, chief scientist at CSIR-CSMCRI.
Beyond salt production, CSMCRI will also assist PSU in developing water desalination technologies and methods to extract salt from rejected water. Additionally, the institute will support research and development in algae cultivation.
The MoU also outlines provisions for faculty and student exchange programmes. Scientists from CSIR-CSMCRI will visit Philippine institutions to provide training and technical guidance under this collaborative partnership.
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