As you ride past the vast stretches of water filled fieldsof Merces that glisten in the half-light of the sunset, you can see rows oftiny white hills of salt pushed to the side. While the farmers collect the saltsoon to be sold, one realises that this dying trade is literally seeing the sunsetting on its existence.
A once profitable industry, the number of salt pans one cannow see as compared to 10 years ago has drastically decreased. Slowly beingphased out by iodised salt, lack of labour, better job prospects and nogovernment aid, we may as well be the last generation that can boast of saltcultivators. One such salt cultivator, Salvador Fernandes says, “Business isnot exactly great, and we do not have local labour to help us in the fields.The problem with labour is so great, that we have to pay for labour from faraway villages that often work for a few days and do not show up again as soonas we pay them. In the end we are the ones who suffer”, he laments.
Another salt cultivator from the neighbouring field, JaimitoSoares adds, “We have plenty of meetings with the government, but so farnothing has been done. We get no help from them and we are left to ourselves.Our children want education and fancy jobs in the city. They go to school andnow feel ashamed of the work we do. So there is no one to carry on this trade.It dies with us.”
However, there are a few people still extremely passionateabout salt. One such man is Advocate and Notary in the High Court and teacherfor more than 41 years, Govind U Bhobe. He started producing salt in his 60000square feet area at Nerul and today he is one of the biggest producers of saltin Goa. He says, “The government does a lot of publicity for iodised salt and alot of propaganda against this natural kind. There is a lack of skilled labour,lack of interest from the modern generation and lack of storage space.”
While lands have been relinquished in the name ofdevelopment, the few cultivators that exist still hold firm. Salvador says,“This is our livelihood. We do it for six months a year and the other sixmonths we fish. If it rains, it is a complete loss for us. Yet we still do it,as it is the only thing we know.”
