Herbicide abuse

The grass is burnt dry on the ditch bank due to the use of herbicides by local people (archive photo).

Ms. Hoa's village has a tradition of growing winter crops. Thanks to these crops, many families in the village have enough to eat and save. She herself, thanks to her parents' cabbage and kohlrabi crops, earned enough money for her education and eventually became an agricultural engineer.

It was the weekend, and there was a family memorial service, so Ms. Hoa took advantage of the opportunity to come home the day before to help her mother and take her children to play in the fields. Seeing the vast vegetable fields, her daughter excitedly ran down to the field. After a while, Ms. Hoa saw her daughter sit down on the grassy bank, observing, then stand up and ask her mother:

- Mom, why are the vegetables so healthy but the grass is all wilted? I smell something really strong.

Hearing her child's words, Mrs. Hoa finally noticed. Indeed, the grass on the embankment was completely burnt. Looking closely, she realized it wasn't burnt by the dry weather, but rather seemed to have been sprayed with chemicals. After walking a short distance, Mrs. Hoa met her neighbor, Mrs. Hong, who was spraying something on the grass next to the cabbage field. She approached to greet her, and Mrs. Hong enthusiastically asked:

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

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

- Mom, do farmers in our village not mow the grass anymore but spray herbicide instead? I see that every ditch bank is covered in dry, burnt grass.

Hearing her daughter's words, Mrs. Minh sighed:

- Nowadays, fewer people raise cattle and buffalo, fewer fish, and there's a shortage of labor, so many households buy herbicides to spray for faster results. It's a real abuse.

"Herbicides are just as toxic as pesticides. If used repeatedly as Ms. Hong mentioned, they only kill some of the weeds, while the rest seeps into the soil and water sources. The immediate damage can kill crabs and fish. In the long term, large residues will accumulate in crops, and consuming them can cause poisoning and cancer," Ms. Hoa said.

- The guys in the neighborhood are too lazy to weed and clear the road, so they even bring out pesticides to spray. How disastrous...

- That's not good. Tomorrow I'll talk to Mr. Nam, the Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune, so he can find a way to guide the villagers on how to properly weed. My agency also has a training program on organic vegetable production, which includes guidance on safe and effective weed control. I'll ask them to come to our village to conduct a class sometime. What do you think, Mom?

- That's right, son. We need to make our people understand that using herbicides is easy but harmful to their health.

Hoa and her mother agreed on the idea and went together to meet with Mrs. Hong to promote it first.

LOAN NGUYEN

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/lam-dung-thuoc-diet-co-400161.html