5. Dealing with waste products from salt pans was a painful
problem for the villagers in the past. The dried and smelly topcoats of
the salt pans consist of mosses and seaweeds that came with rainwater
runoff in the rainy season. The salt pans will be used in summer; the
2-3-mm thick topcoat has to be manually removed at a cost of 500
Thai baht a rai (1,600 m2). If this topcoat is not completely removed,
the salt from that pan will be dirty and the amount produced will be
low. Using this topcoat from a salt pan was accidentally discovered
by a pupil when he used it to grow cabbage in his class assignment
and his cabbage grew better and faster than those of other students.
A systematic review of the topcoat was done through several research
studies. The results in the laboratory showed that the topcoat had
1.3% of phosphorus, 2% of potassium and several other things useful
for plants. Several action research projects have confirmed that fruits
that use the topcoat have a sweeter taste. Recently, salt pan’s topcoat
is accepted and ordered by many other agriculturists from many other
provinces.