Herbicide abuse

Dry grass on the ditch bank due to people using herbicide (documentary photo)

Ms. Hoa’s village has a tradition of growing winter crops. Thanks to this crop, many families in the village have food and savings. She herself, thanks to her parents’ cabbage and kohlrabi fields, had money to study and then become an agricultural engineer.

On the weekend, there was a death anniversary at home, so Ms. Hoa took advantage of the day before to come back to help her mother and let her children go to the fields to play. Seeing the vast vegetable fields, her daughter excitedly ran down to the fields. A moment later, she saw her daughter sitting on the grass, observing, then standing up and asking her mother:

- Mom, why are the vegetables so good but the grass is all withered? I smell something bad.

Hearing her son speak, Hoa finally noticed. The grass was indeed burnt. Looking closely, she saw that the grass was not burnt by the dry weather but rather by a chemical spray. After walking a short distance, Hoa met her neighbor, Mrs. Hong, who was spraying something on the grass next to the cabbage field. She approached to say hello, and Mrs. Hong excitedly asked:

- When did you come back, Hoa? Why are you playing in the fields like this? We farmers have a hard time. We have a few acres of cabbage, but they grow so slowly. We don't know if we'll be able to sell them in time for Tet. And these weeds, we sprayed them several times and thought they would die, but after a few rains, they're growing well again.

Hearing Mrs. Hong talk about spraying herbicides, Ms. Hoa was startled. It turned out that the burnt grass that her daughter said had a pungent smell was indeed sprayed with herbicides. Looking around the field, Ms. Hoa saw that the ditches were also the color of burnt grass. Taking her daughter to her field, where her mother was pulling herbs to prepare for the feast, Ms. Hoa asked:

- Do farmers in our hometown no longer cut grass but spray pesticides, Mom? I see that all the banks of the ditches are the same color of burnt grass?

Hearing her daughter speak, Mrs. Minh sighed:

- Nowadays, people rarely raise cattle or fish, and there is no labor, so many households buy herbicides to spray quickly. It is a real abuse.

- Herbicides are just as toxic as pesticides. If used repeatedly like Mr. Hong said, only a part of the weeds will be killed, while the rest will seep into the soil and water sources. The visible damage can kill crabs and fish. In the long run, large residues will be present in crops, and eating them can cause poisoning and cancer, Ms. Hoa said.

- The men in the neighborhood are too lazy to weed and clear the road, so they even sprayed pesticides. How disastrous...

- That's not good. Tomorrow I'll talk to Mr. Nam, the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, so he can find a way to guide people on how to kill weeds properly. My agency is also having a training program to guide people on how to produce organic vegetables, including instructions on how to kill weeds safely and effectively. One day I'll ask them to come back to my hometown to open a class. What do you think, Mom?

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