Dak Nong farmers and their sorrows with fertilizers

Regretfully accept the loss

Farmers are the ones who directly invest in buying fertilizers to care for their crops. In reality, there have been farmers who have had to suffer losses because of poor quality fertilizers.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai, Nghia Trung Ward, Gia Nghia City, shared that her family has 5 sao of land growing coffee and pepper for more than 20 years. Previously, she often bought fertilizer from dealers. Many times, due to difficult circumstances, she bought fertilizer on credit and waited until the end of the harvest season to have money to pay.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai, Nghia Trung ward, Gia Nghia city shared that she had suffered losses due to poor quality fertilizers and had made smart purchases to restore her pepper garden.

“When I have money to pay immediately when buying fertilizer, the plants grow well. However, there are times when I don’t have money and have to pay in advance. They sell me fertilizer that looks the same on the packaging as the previous fertilizers, but when I apply it to the plants, the plants do not grow well. There are times during the rainy season when I use fertilizer for a whole month for coffee and pepper, but it dissolves very little, or the fertilizer does not dissolve at all. At that time, I also suspected that the fertilizer was fake or of poor quality, but it was difficult to say clearly because I did not have the knowledge. I had to accept the loss,” said Ms. Hoai.

The fact that farmers have to be sad about the quality of fertilizer like Ms. Hoai also happens to many other farmers. Ms. Vu Thi Nguyet, Dak R'moan commune, Gia Nghia city shared that a few years ago she bought several tons of fertilizer to fertilize her coffee trees. Even though she watered a lot, the fertilizer did not dissolve. After that, the trees did not grow well but the leaves turned yellow. The soil at the base of the coffee trees was dry and hard.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai, Nghia Trung ward, Gia Nghia city is happy because her garden is green and lush thanks to using reputable quality fertilizers.

“Farmers have limited knowledge, so I’m not sure if it’s because of the fertilizer or something else. Besides, I don’t have the money to test the quality of the fertilizer. I also didn’t think about reporting it to the authorities, so I just let it go. At that time, I had to accept the loss of money and learn from my experience for next time,” Nguyet shared.

Farmers' sharing shows that most poor quality fertilizers often have unclear packaging with ingredients, content, quality certificate, address, phone number, etc.

These fertilizers are often sold at a cheaper price than genuine products. These products easily attract the attention of farmers, especially those with low incomes.

In agricultural production, fertilizers play an essential role in improving crop productivity and product quality. Fertilizers that do not meet quality standards seriously affect crops and products, the health of producers, consumers, as well as the environment of soil, water, air, etc.

However, not all farmers have enough information and knowledge to distinguish between quality fertilizers and poor quality, harmful fertilizers.

Farmers need to equip themselves with knowledge and actively fight.

Farmers play an important role as an information channel to detect and, together with the authorities, prevent poor quality fertilizers. Therefore, farmers need to be raised with awareness and knowledge on how to recognize fertilizer quality.

In recent years, the Dak Nong Farmers' Association (DAFA) has actively coordinated with specialized agencies to promote propaganda and provide knowledge to farmers.

Dak Nong farmers need to equip themselves with knowledge and proactively fight against fake and poor quality fertilizers.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai shared: “After HND shared knowledge, experience in cultivation, and how to identify fertilizer quality, I have grown coffee and pepper effectively. I only go to reputable companies and agents and buy fertilizers from units that are rated as good quality.”

Mr. Ho Gam, Chairman of Dak Nong Farmers' Association, assessed that fertilizers that do not guarantee quality, or even fake ones, appear quite often, causing losses to farmers.

In recent years, the provincial HND has seen that fertilizer management by relevant sectors and the government has become more stringent and effective. In fact, the authorities have tightened the management so that most agents and companies now comply.

Of course, it is inevitable that some places do things carelessly and haphazardly without thinking about the consequences. In some cases, the police and market forces discovered and punished them.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai, Nghia Trung ward, Gia Nghia city, harvests coffee.

Mr. Ho Gam shared: “In the age of information technology development, there are now many online sales channels. No one can guarantee the quality of agricultural materials that farmers buy online, because it is difficult to determine the origin. Fake fertilizers have a "living ground" partly because people buy them online. In Dak Nong, about 5km away, there is a company or agent selling fertilizers. Dak Nong has Duc Giang - Dak Nong Chemical Company Limited supplying over 200,000 tons of fertilizers/year. People should go to reputable agents and companies to buy fertilizers, not buy online."

According to Mr. Gam, if farmers want to produce well and sell their products at good prices, they should participate in collective economies such as cooperatives, cooperative groups, professional associations, etc. to organize production systematically.

When participating in the collective economy, farmers can buy together, sell together, and transfer scientific and technical advances. At that time, people have more knowledge about production, limiting the use of poor quality materials.

Mr. Ho Gam said that fertilizer companies’ products must have quality testing and recognition from competent authorities. The company must initially commit to advance fertilizer to farmers.

If the fertilizer is found to be of a substandard quality, the farmer will not pay a percentage. If the crop yield decreases, the company must be responsible for compensating the farmer.

“We send all the signed cooperation documents to each farmer association in the village, hamlet, and village. After that, the farmers register to buy and then bring the fertilizer back. The companies working here do not calculate the transportation cost, but calculate the general price,” said Mr. Ho Gam.

Recently, Dak Nong Farmers' Association has invited experts to provide technical guidance on growing durian, coffee, pepper, macadamia, mulberry, etc. The company provides accompanying fertilizers, committing to stable output and input for farmers.

Graphics: Thanh Nga

In addition to the support of all levels, sectors and localities, farmers must be wise in choosing products, choosing where to buy fertilizer and must organize production together.

Farmers need to be proactive in fighting and actively providing information about fertilizer quality... to contribute to protecting their own interests, while protecting public health and the environment.

Close coordination between farmers, authorities and relevant organizations is an important condition to prevent poor quality fertilizers and promote agricultural development.

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/nong-dan-dak-nong-va-nhung-ngam-ngui-voi-phan-bon-233865.html