Why do experts recommend that farmers should use a combination of chemical and biological pesticides?

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Son - Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Pesticide Production and Trading Enterprises (VIPA), people need to consider and use chemical and biological pesticides in harmony to both prevent harmful organisms and ensure safety for human health and protect the environment.

Mr. Nguyen Van Son - Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Pesticide Production and Trading Enterprises (VIPA) shared at the discussion with the topic "Correct understanding of pesticides" on November 8. Photo: Nguyen Chuong

Each drug has different advantages and disadvantages.

At the seminar: "Research, development and management of plant protection drugs" jointly organized by the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), Vietnam Croplife Association, VIPA and NTNN newspaper on November 8, answering the reader's question: There are many opinions that biological plant protection drugs are often safer for human health than chemical plant protection drugs?, Mr. Nguyen Van Son - Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Plant Protection Production and Trading Enterprises (VIPA) said that chemical plant protection drugs and biological plant protection drugs both have different advantages and disadvantages.

Chemical pesticides have advantages such as: They can kill harmful organisms quickly, thoroughly, and on a large scale, stopping epidemics in a short time that other measures cannot do.

Brings clear prevention effects, protects crop yields, improves agricultural product quality, helps reduce cultivated area, reduces labor, contributes to overcoming the current labor shortage in rural areas, and brings economic efficiency.

Some new generation chemical pesticides are highly effective in preventing harmful organisms and are safe for human health and the environment.

However, according to Mr. Son, because of realizing the advantages of pesticides, farmers have abused them, used them incorrectly, and ignored other plant protection measures. They believe that pesticides can solve all crop problems.

"Due to abuse, lack of control, and incorrect use of techniques, many negative aspects of pesticides have been exposed, such as: polluting water and soil sources; leaving residues on agricultural products, causing toxicity to humans and many warm-blooded animals; causing imbalance in nature, reducing biodiversity, causing the emergence of new harmful organisms, creating harmful organisms resistant to pesticides, disrupting the rich relationships between species in the ecosystem, causing outbreaks and recurrences of pests.

This leads to a decrease in the effectiveness of pesticides," Mr. Son stated the current situation and said: The use of biological pesticides is often safe and less toxic to human health, beneficial organisms and the environment, decomposes quickly in nature, has a short quarantine period, leaves little residue in agricultural products, so it is very suitable for use on clean agricultural products such as vegetables, tea, fruit trees...; very environmentally friendly.

Furthermore, many international experts have also pointed out the main reasons listed below leading to the increasing use of biological pesticides: Due to the requirement of developing agricultural production in a sustainable direction.

Agricultural production must pay attention to increasing productivity and agricultural output to meet food security needs while minimizing adverse impacts on the environment and adapting to climate change. To meet this requirement, using biological pesticides is the most appropriate choice.

Farmers mix chemicals and use drones to spray pesticides on crops in Hoa Lu (Ninh Binh). Photo: TQ

Need to use in harmony

Mr. Son added that currently, the market trend is increasing demand for organic, safe food that is not contaminated with toxic substances, so using biological pesticides in agricultural production is an appropriate measure.

Many large corporations and businesses in the world's food market are moving towards trading agricultural products using biological pesticides.

Food safety and environmental protection regulations of countries around the world encourage producers to use pesticides.

However, besides the advantages, many biological pesticides also reveal some disadvantages such as: High cost, slower pest control effectiveness than chemical pesticides. The storage time of many biological pesticides is shorter than chemical pesticides.

Currently, the proportion of biological pesticides used accounts for only about 10% of the total amount of pesticides annually due to the following reasons: There are not enough biological pesticides to prevent harmful organisms in the fields.

Although the technical characteristics of biological products are very high; but people's understanding of this type of product is still limited, which hinders their use. Accordingly, we need to provide more training so that people can recognize and know how to use biological pesticides more effectively.

Because the process of extraction, fermentation and production of microbial pesticides in Vietnam is not really stable, the product quality is often unstable, and the toxin content often decreases after a number of productions.

Many biological products are often highly specific, have a narrow spectrum of action, are slow to take effect, and have unstable effects (due to the influence of many external factors (sunlight, pH, humidity, etc. and conditions of use), so they are not as popular with farmers as chemical pesticides.

The cost of using some biological pesticides is still high compared to chemical pesticides. Thus, according to Mr. Son, not all biological pesticide products are absolutely good and not all chemical products are completely harmful. There are types of biological pesticides produced that are harmful to humans such as pesticides made from poison ivy... Each type of pesticide has its own advantages and disadvantages and requires its own specific usage methods.

The choice of which pesticide to use depends on many factors such as the pest status, environmental conditions and the farmer's financial capacity.

Accordingly, Mr. Son recommends that people need to consider and use chemical and biological pesticides in harmony to both prevent harmful organisms and ensure safety for human health and protect the environment.

"Pesticide users need to carefully read and use according to the manufacturer's instructions on the pesticide label, adhere to the four rights principle (right pesticide, right concentration, right time, right way) and ensure the quarantine period. At the same time, strengthening sustainable farming measures such as integrated pest management (IPM), plant health management (IPHM) will bring safety to human health and protect the environment.

For example, we can use chemical drugs at the beginning of the season and biological drugs at the end of the season to ensure the quarantine period, which will help the product be safe for people and the environment while ensuring economic factors," the President of VIPA Association added.

Source: https://danviet.vn/vi-sao-chuyen-gia-khuyen-cao-nong-dan-nen-su-dung-hai-hoa-giua-thuoc-bvtv-hoa-va-sinh-hoc-20241108205700766.htm