Fertilizer prices cool down

After a period of staying at high levels, recently the prices of many types of fertilizers have turned around, helping farmers reduce the burden of input costs, especially for the upcoming summer-autumn rice crop.

Prices of inorganic fertilizers such as urea, DAP, NPK and potassium have decreased significantly compared to last month.

According to records at distributors and agricultural supply stores in Vi Thanh city, the prices of many types of fertilizers have continued to decrease sharply in recent days. Compared to more than a month ago, the prices of inorganic fertilizers such as urea, DAP, NPK and potassium have decreased significantly. Currently, the consumption of many types of fertilizers is quite slow because the 2023-2024 Winter-Spring rice crop in many localities has entered the ripening and harvesting stage.

Mr. Nguyen Van Vo, owner of Nguyen Van Vo agricultural supplies store in Vi Thanh city, said: “Fertilizer prices are stagnant. The current price of urea is 580,000-590,000 VND/50kg bag of Phu My Ca Mau urea, and DAP is 1.07 million VND/bag of Hong Ha China green DAP. The price of organic fertilizer has not changed since the beginning of the season until now, a bag is about 270,000 VND/25kg, with an organic content of about 75%”.

According to Mr. Vo, there are two reasons why fertilizer prices this year are lower than last year. First, there is abundant supply. Second, domestic factories are stable, so there are many goods. Currently, the low price is due to the lack of demand from farmers, hopefully it will be sold in mid-March.

In addition to inorganic fertilizers, recently, some farmers have increased the purchase of organic fertilizers for their gardens. At the same time, they use straw, animal manure and agricultural waste and by-products to make organic fertilizer for crops to save costs.

Thanh Tien Agricultural, Trade and Service Cooperative, in Tan Tien Commune, Vi Thanh City, currently has 39 members with a pineapple growing area of over 80 hectares, and on average each year the cooperative supplies the market with about 182 tons of pineapple fruit. The cooling down of fertilizer prices has made pineapple farmers like Mr. Tran Van Ba, Director of the Cooperative, excited. Because input costs have been reduced somewhat, while pineapple prices remain high. Most farmers do not buy fertilizer in reserve, but usually buy it when they need it. Therefore, when the season comes, the increased demand often pushes fertilizer prices up.

Mr. Tran Van Ba, Director of Thanh Tien Agricultural, Trade and Service Cooperative, confided: “The price of fertilizer has decreased a little compared to before, but it is still high. It has only decreased by about 40,000-50,000 VND/bag of fertilizer. For the cooperative, when members need it, we will take it and deliver it to them according to each fertilization period.”

Not only reducing the amount of chemical fertilizers, farmers are also switching to prioritizing the use of organic fertilizers for their crops. Mr. Ho Ngoc Binh, Director of the Safe Agricultural Products Cooperative in Hamlet 7, Long Tri A Commune, Long My Town, said: Currently, the Cooperative has 30 members, not only growing vegetables in greenhouses combined with a water-saving irrigation system, but the members of the Cooperative also grow other agricultural products to meet market demand, avoiding the situation of oversupply in the market.

For a long time, people have prioritized using organic fertilizers. After the mushrooms are collected, the straw is composted for later use. In addition, they have contracts with companies to get fertilizer for use to reduce input costs and increase profits after each harvest.

It can be seen that “First water, second fertilizer”, in agricultural production, fertilizer is the most important factor after water, so to cultivate effectively and productively, it must be used for crops. The decrease in fertilizer prices creates more favorable conditions for farmers to buy and use for crops. This is a good sign, but in the long term, the agricultural sector recommends that farmers should switch to using organic fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers, both to reduce production costs and protect the environment.

According to scientists , to effectively use fertilizers or pesticides, farmers should follow the "4 rights" principle: right type, right time, right dosage and right way of use to minimize input costs, increase productivity, product quality and protect the environment.

Hero of Labor, Professor, Doctor Vo Tong Xuan, a leading expert in Vietnam's agriculture, said: If we change the way we fertilize, we will reduce at least 30%, even up to 40% of chemical fertilizers. For example, for rice, fertilizing before tilling the soil and sowing, after sowing, the rice roots will come into direct contact with the fertilizer. Previously, fertilizing on the ground, the rice plants could not absorb much to grow quickly. Urea is added there, at least 10kg of fertilizer is applied, the rice plants will only eat about 5kg at most, the rest will evaporate, increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Article and photos: MONG TOAN

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