Inorganic fertilizers still play an important role in cultivation. However, using this fertilizer for a long time will make agricultural land more and more degraded and seriously degraded. Therefore, changing the practice from inorganic fertilizers to organic fertilizers (HC) is currently a solution that is encouraged by the industry to improve and restore agricultural land and protect the environment.

Using too much inorganic fertilizers for a long time makes the soil more degraded and degraded, negatively affecting crops, the environment and human health.

Organic fertilizers have many advantages, but are not used much.

Inorganic fertilizers include main types such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, complex fertilizers, mixed fertilizers and micronutrients, but are most commonly used by farmers, in the largest quantity and most frequently in agricultural production activities, most notably nitrogen fertilizer. In addition to the positive aspects such as promoting and increasing crop yields, but do not have long-term effects.

According to experts, using inorganic fertilizers improperly, in the wrong dosage, at the wrong time, in the wrong type, and overusing them for a long time not only causes agricultural land to become more degraded and seriously degraded, but also has negative effects on land, crops, the environment, and human health.

On the contrary, HC fertilizer is formed from feces, waste of livestock and poultry, stems, leaves, by-products from agricultural production, peat or HC substances from domestic waste, kitchen waste, from factories producing aquatic and seafood products, etc.

This is a rich source of fertilizer, helping to improve the soil, increase fertility and looseness of the soil by providing and supplementing humus, HC, and microorganisms for the soil and crops. Therefore, changing agricultural production practices, changing the use of inorganic fertilizers with HC fertilizers is the best solution to restore agricultural land and protect the environment today.

However, the current use of HC fertilizer is still not much. According to the report of the Plant Protection Department in August 2024, in the Mekong Delta provinces, in 2023, the amount of inorganic fertilizer used is still high, an average of 480 kg/ha of cultivated land, 10% higher than the national average. Meanwhile, the amount of HC fertilizer used is still modest.

The amount of industrially produced HC fertilizer, the average usage in the whole region is 72 kg/ha of cultivation, only 50% of the national average. Even the amount of non-commercial HC fertilizer is only 7.3% of the national average. Provinces such as An Giang and Kien Giang do not have data on HC fertilizer usage. In 2022, most provinces in the region used this fertilizer insignificantly, only Ben Tre and Vinh Long had HC fertilizer usage higher than the national average by 58-65%.

Regarding the cause, according to experts, in the process of cultivating HC, producers are only allowed to use HC fertilizers, and control weeds and pests with biological drugs, so it requires a lot of labor and is difficult to implement on a large scale, especially in hot and humid climate conditions that are very favorable for many pests to develop and cause harm.

In addition, in highly intensive farming areas, where inorganic fertilizers and plant protection chemicals were previously used, when switching to HC production, in the early years, productivity decreased significantly and there were difficulties in pest control due to high pest pressure, the ecological balance was disrupted, and it took time to re-establish. In addition, producers' awareness of HC agriculture is still limited, because producers believe that organizing HC agricultural production needs to meet strict regulations and standards, which is a big challenge.

Encourage the use of organic fertilizers

In order to encourage, support and promote the use of HC fertilizers in cultivation, contributing to the development of agricultural production and protection of the ecological environment in a sustainable manner, the State has issued legal bases for the development of HC fertilizers stipulated in the Law on Cultivation.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has issued a directive on enhancing the development and use of HC fertilizers by 2020, an action plan to enhance the production and use of HC fertilizers, and use fertilizers economically, balancedly and effectively in the period 2022-2025 issued in 2022 and the Project on Developing the Production and Use of HC Fertilizers by 2030, with a vision to 2050 approved in 2023.

In Vinh Long province, on September 13, 2024, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee approved the Plan to implement the Project on Developing Production and Use of HC Fertilizers to 2030, with a vision to 2050 in the province.

According to the Plant Protection Department, nationwide, there are 24 enterprises that have signed a commitment to implement the HC fertilizer development program, using fertilizer economically and effectively with the Plant Protection Department in the period of 2019-2025 with a total budget of up to 631 billion VND to build a model of using HC fertilizer, using fertilizer economically with an area of ​​over 45,000 hectares, training over 1,000 classes with nearly 20,000 farmers on building model models on key crops such as rice, fruit trees, and industrial crops.

In 2023 alone, many production models using HC fertilizers, using fertilizers economically, balanced and effectively with an area of ​​over 15,000 hectares in many provinces across the country. Of which, rice 5,742 hectares, vegetables 3,742 hectares, fruit trees, industrial trees 2,725 hectares, tea 2,660 hectares and other crops.

At the same time, training was organized for tens of thousands of farmers and nearly 2,000 professional staff of the Department and localities nationwide on the use of HC fertilizers; economical, balanced and effective use of fertilizers; and use of fertilizers according to the "5 rights" principle. In the first 6 months of 2024, businesses have built 40 models of using HC fertilizers, economical use of fertilizers on rice, fruit trees and vegetables with an area of ​​61 hectares in provinces and cities.

Straw can be used to moisten tree roots, fields or as organic fertilizer to help improve soil and protect the environment.

In the Mekong Delta, in 2022, there were a number of models implemented by fertilizer production and trading enterprises in coordination with localities on rice in the provinces, such as Ca Mau Petroleum Fertilizer Joint Stock Company (Ca Mau nitrogen fertilizer) implementing 59 models on rice in Dong Thap, Long An, Can Tho, Soc Trang, An Giang, Kien Giang with an area of ​​nearly 240 hectares, achieving a number of results such as: reducing fertilizer use by 15%, productivity increasing by 5%, profit increasing by 19% compared to mass production.

The Plant Protection Department recommends that the People's Committees of provinces and cities direct specialized agencies to strengthen the propaganda, dissemination and guidance on the economical and effective use of fertilizers; promote the production and use of HC fertilizers, especially encourage and support farmers to produce and use HC fertilizers from available domestic raw materials (by-products of crop production, agricultural processing, livestock waste, household waste, etc.) to both improve the soil and improve the efficiency of use, thereby reducing dependence on chemical fertilizers.

Article and photos: MINH HOA