Starting a business with organic fertilizer from shellfish

DONG THAP Realizing the potential of local agricultural waste, a young man in Lap Vo (Dong Thap) researched and launched organic fertilizer from water chestnut shells.

Mr. Nguyen Truong Anh (far right) introduces organic fertilizer made from water chestnut shells. Photo: Character provided .

Mr. Nguyen Truong An is a young man in Binh Thanh commune (Lap Vo district, Dong Thap province). Realizing that organic production and the use of organic products are becoming a trend for sustainable development of agriculture, recently, Mr. An has spent time learning about local agricultural waste and by-products, including water chestnut shells.

Seeing that a lot of by-products from water chestnuts in Lap Vo were being thrown away, causing environmental pollution, with his experience working in the field of biotechnology, Mr. An started researching the production of organic fertilizer from water chestnut shells.

The most difficult thing in Mr. An's research process was the lack of documents about water chestnuts in Vietnamese. He had to search for documents from abroad, mainly from Taiwan - where water chestnut cultivation is strongly developed. After 2 years of research and study, in January 2023, he launched the first batch of organic fertilizer products from water chestnut shells.

Organic growing medium from water chestnut shell. Photo: Phuc An .

Mr. An shared: “Organic fertilizer products from water chestnut shells have a more outstanding feature than other organic fertilizers (such as organic fertilizers from chicken manure, cow manure or earthworms...) in that they do not have an unpleasant odor, both during the production process and in the product. This also helps to limit air pollution during the production process as well as create a pleasant feeling for consumers.”

Not only environmental benefits, the organic fertilizer product from water chestnut shells also contributes to increasing income for local people from agricultural waste, and also contributes to extending the value chain of water chestnut products in Lap Vo district.

“After the water chestnuts are processed into other products, the remaining shells left in the wild take up to 6 months to decompose. Instead, I go to local processing facilities to collect these waste products, then bring them back, grind them, and compost them with Trichoderma. After 1.5 months, I have organic fertilizer products to use,” Mr. An added.

Organic pellet fertilizer from water chestnut shell. Photo: Phuc An .

Mr. An's organic fertilizer products were quickly accepted, used and evaluated by gardeners as having good effects on ornamental plants and fruit trees, helping trees to be green and have thick leaves, grow sustainably and provide a lot of nutrients for the trees.

Although there are concerns from some gardeners that fertilizer from water chestnut shells may not be as effective as other types of fertilizer on the market, Mr. An is not too worried about this, because those gardeners are used to using chemical fertilizers and do not have full access to information about organic agriculture and organic fertilizers.

He believes that in the coming time, when local authorities have more policies and propaganda activities on organic agriculture, consumer psychology will gradually change and accept his products as well as other organic fertilizers more positively.

Mr. An's organic fertilizer factory from water chestnut shells. Photo: Phuc An .

Currently, Mr. An has launched two products on the market: organic fertilizer in the form of tablets and organic growing medium. The products are mainly supplied to gardeners in Sa Dec flower village and some orchid gardens in the province.

In the coming time, he will continue to improve the product according to customer needs and cooperate with distribution channels on e-commerce so that the product can reach many customers across the country, especially in Ho Chi Minh City. At the same time, he will cooperate with local milk production enterprises to purchase milk shells in large quantities to expand production scale.

Source: https://nongsanviet.nongnghiep.vn/khoi-nghiep-voi-phan-bon-huu-co-tu-vo-au-d404482.html