Fertilizer matrix challenges Dak Nong farmers

Big challenge for farmers

Dak Nong is promoting the restructuring of the agricultural sector towards large-scale commodity production. In the context of the whole sector promoting solutions to achieve common goals, farmers always have to face the concern of poor quality fertilizers and fake fertilizers.

The family of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Binh, village 11, Nhan Co commune, Dak R'lap district has over 1 hectare of coffee for business. Every year, the family spends about 50 million VND on 3-5 times of fertilizing, not to mention the manure source the family proactively gets from raising livestock.

The family of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Binh, village 11, Nhan Co commune, Dak R'lap district always faces the fear of fake fertilizers.

Ms. Binh believes that for plants to grow, fertilizing with good quality is extremely important. Because coffee is a perennial plant, the higher the yield, the more nutrients must be added through fertilizer.

Therefore, she always pays attention to the quality of fertilizers. However, she often has to face the worry of using poor quality fertilizers or fake fertilizers.

Her fertilizer purchases are mainly based on trust in the supplier and she does not know how to distinguish and check the quality of fertilizers.

Dak Nong has many types of domestic and foreign fertilizers circulating on the market.

Not to mention, there are countless brands and types of fertilizer manufacturers in the market, both domestic and foreign, that farmers like her find difficult to recognize all the names.

Ms. Binh affirmed: “In fact, I am very worried about fake and poor quality fertilizers. There have been some cases in the area where crops have been severely damaged due to poor quality fertilizers.”

Mrs. Binh's concerns are well-founded. The People's Committee of Nhan Co Commune said that there are 21 fertilizer trading points and agents in the area, with about thousands of tons of various types of fertilizers each year.

Regarding this content, Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet, President of the Farmers' Association of Nhan Co commune, said that through understanding the members' thoughts, many cases said that they were not confident about the quality of fertilizers, many cases farmers suspected that the products were of poor quality.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Luong, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dak R'lap district, said that the quantity of agricultural materials and fertilizers in the list of permitted production and trading is very large.

This is a major difficulty in management. At the district level, it is even more difficult when human resources are limited, and the level of expertise and professionalism in fertilizer management does not meet the requirements.

Walking around the agricultural material dealers and facilities, our group of reporters were overwhelmed by the wide range of fertilizer types and brands.

From organic and inorganic fertilizers to foliar fertilizers, root fertilizers, dry powder fertilizers, liquid fertilizers... are all sold everywhere. This reality is a big challenge for farmers in choosing fertilizers.

According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dak Nong, the province's fertilizer market is very diverse, with thousands of brands and types. There are 20 fertilizer distributors and 449 fertilizer businesses in the province.

There are 3 main types of fertilizers: basal fertilizers (root fertilizers), with about 30 types. Organic fertilizers have about 20 types; foliar fertilizers provide about 15 types of micronutrients.

Vietnam currently has more than 5,000 types of fertilizers allowed to circulate on the market. This number partly shows the difficulty and complexity of fertilizer quality management. This is also a big challenge for farmers.

Many Dak Nong farmers are always worried about the quality of fertilizers for key crops such as coffee and pepper.

In recent years, fertilizer quality management in Dak Nong has achieved many positive results. The Provincial People's Committee has implemented directives from the Central Government and issued documents and directives on ensuring fertilizer quality.

Propaganda work has been stepped up, helping farmers understand the technical standards and regulations of fertilizers. At the same time, inter-sectoral forces such as agricultural inspectors, police, and market management have proactively coordinated to organize inspections and checks to prevent and strictly handle establishments producing and trading in poor quality fertilizers.

Graphics: Viet Dung

However, in reality, farmers still face many difficulties in choosing fertilizers. Most farmers in Dak Nong still do not have enough ability to recognize and choose the right type of fertilizer to ensure quality.

Many difficulties in management

In 2023, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development inspected 42 facilities and took 20 fertilizer samples for quality testing. As a result, 14/20 fertilizer samples met quality standards (70%), 6 samples failed to meet quality standards (30%). Of which, 1 NPK fertilizer sample and 1 foliar fertilizer sample were of poor quality; 2 foliar fertilizer samples and 2 fake micronutrient fertilizer samples.

Dak Nong Department of Agriculture believes that the production and trading of fake and poor quality fertilizers still exists partly due to the management system, legal documents, and legal corridor system not being unified and highly synchronized.

Technical standards and regulations serving the management of agricultural materials in general and fertilizers in particular are not timely, specific and not highly feasible.

Dak Nong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has organized many activities to strengthen the management of agricultural materials.

According to Mr. Pham Tuan Anh, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the work of inspection, control, supervision, crime prevention and control and coordination between departments, branches and localities are still lacking in determination, sometimes with lax management, especially at the district level.

The number of agricultural material businesses in general and fertilizers in particular in the province is large and spread throughout the province, so it is not easy for authorities to inspect and control quality.

"This is partly due to limited human resources, facilities and equipment for the work, while sanctions are not strong enough to prevent violations in the production and trading of poor quality fertilizers," Mr. Anh added.

Mr. Pham Tuan Anh, Director of Dak Nong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

Along with that, the new propaganda focuses on reflecting violations, not paying attention to praising and encouraging organizations, individuals and businesses to comply well and ensure quality.

The province has yet to promote its role in monitoring, detecting and participating in denouncing violations by organizations, communities and people regarding the production and trading of fake and poor quality fertilizers.

The Department of Agriculture assessed that the situation of counterfeit and poor quality goods not only affects crop productivity but also reduces people's trust in the fertilizer market.

Many farmers have encountered difficulties due to the risk of crop failure, caused by the use of poor quality fertilizer products.

Fertilizers that do not guarantee quality are fertilizers with quality indicators and limiting factors that are not in accordance with the decision to recognize fertilizers for circulation in Vietnam or national technical regulations. Fertilizers with fake quality are fertilizers with one or more main quality indicators that only reach 70% or less compared to the registered level in the decision to recognize fertilizers for circulation in Vietnam (except for the main quality indicator of microorganisms).

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/ma-tran-phan-bon-thach-thuc-nong-dan-dak-nong-233741.html