Use of organic fertilisers – inevitable trend: minister

At a conference held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to seek ways to develop organic fertilisers on March 9 (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Boosting clean agriculture in a sustainable and effective manner with the use of organic fertilisers is an inevitable trend, affirmed Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong at the ministry’s conference seeking ways to develop organic fertilisers on March 9.

Cuong said that the use of chemical fertilisers for a long time has caused environmental pollution, soil degradation, and negative impacts on the quality of agricultural products.

He pointed to the abuse of inorganic fertilisers in agricultural production by farmers, calling for a change, given stricter market requirements on product quality and better cultivation methods to minimise climate change consequences.

Vietnam currently needs about 11 million tonnes of fertilisers of all types a year. As of December 2017, the number of registered organic fertiliser products was 713, accounting for 5 percent of the total, while the number of inorganic products made up 93.7 percent and biological products 1.3 percent.

The nation has 180 establishments producing organic fertilisers with combined capacity of 2.5 million tonnes a year, equal to 8.5 percent of the total.

The imbalance was attributed to the lack of measures encouraging the production and use of organic fertilisers.

In September 2017, regulations on encouraging the production and use of organic fertilisers were put into a decree for the first time when Decree No.108/2017/ND-CP was issued in replace of Decree No.202/2013/ND-CP.

The new decree stipulates that the production and use of organic fertilisers is important to develop a clean and sustainable agriculture.

However, the standard system on fertilisers in general and organic fertilisers in particular has yet to meet the reality’s requirements.

At present, the Plant Protection Department is building a mechanism on technical standards, including those related to organic fertiliser quality.

The sector will take measures to encourage at least 50 percent of fertiliser establishment facilities to invest in developing organic fertilisers.

Contents encouraging the production and use of organic fertilisers will be put into the draft Cultivation Law, including policies related to land, tax and credit.

For the long term, policies to encourage the production of organic fertilisers from existing domestic materials, including waste products in agriculture and husbandry, will be made