Indonesians farm mud geyser for "sweet" salt
PURWODADI, Indonesia (Reuters) - A volcanic mud geyser in Indonesia's Java island is producing an unlikely source of income for local farmers -- "sweet" salt.
The Bledug Kuwu geyser in Purwodadi, west of Central Java's capital Semarang, has spewed out mineral-rich fluids for centuries, a phenomenon experts say results from geothermal motions deep in the earth.
The geyser contrasts with a destructive mud volcano in east Java near Surabaya that started last year near an oil drilling site and has swamped an area four times the size of Monaco and made thousands homeless.
The Bledug Kuwu geyser is proving handy for four innovative villagers who are turning material from the eruptions into salt.
During the dry season water from a 4.5-ha (11-acre) pool is collected in salt evaporation ponds.
"This salt is different from ordinary salt. It tastes a little bit sweet," one of the salt farmers, Siyem, told Reuters Television.
One kg of salt costs 2,000 rupiah (22 U.S. cents), more than five times the price of ordinary salt, said Siyem, who works with her husband to produce the salt.
The couple can produce 40 kg of salt a week if the weather permits. Continued...
Sister speaks to jailed journalist