LNP – Global warming gotten in the way of salt production in Sri Lanka

Unexpected rainy weather conditions, a phenomenon of global warming, have triggered concerns for salt production in Sri Lanka because at least 40–45 days with uninterrupted sunlight are required for manufacturing and processing, an official said.

Sri Lanka currently gets intermittent rain throughout the year in all parts of the country.

Chairman of National Salt Limited Gayan Wellala told the Daily Mirror that “salt is harvested through a solar evaporation method where seawater is gathered in salt pans and evaporated to form salt deposits. If heavy rains of 60-70 mm are experienced over a period of time, the salt deposits get washed away.”

Mr Wellala also said that heavy rains had impacted the salt production since 2020, a reason for the current shortage. He said the current harvest had dropped from 30,000 tonnes to 7,000 tonnes.

He said that the industry does not have a conclusive measure to deal with this situation, and every country faces the same problem, but precautionary measures are being taken to increase the production of salt by the National Salt Limited.

The country is nearly self-sufficient in salt production, given that there are no disruptions in the harvest, comfortably meeting the annual demand of approximately 180,000 tonnes for domestic and industrial purposes through a widespread saltern industry located in the coastal regions of Puttalam, Hambantota, Elephant Pass, Mannar and Trincomalee.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, climatologist Malith Fernando said, “Sri Lanka is highly sensitive to global warming as we do not have the infrastructure to battle it yet, compared to other countries. The situation will only get worse in the coming years.”

Mr. Fernando also said that global warming had worsened weather conditions in the recent decade. The scale of rainfall has increased significantly.