Tighten management of fertilizer and pesticide quality

Fertilizers and pesticides are indispensable materials in agricultural production. Therefore, counterfeit producers and traders are ready to release products that do not guarantee quality to the market. To protect consumers' rights, the functional sectors in the province have increased inspections, promptly detected and handled many cases of production and trading of counterfeit and poor quality goods.

Tighten management of fertilizer and pesticide quality Inspectors of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development checked the quality of fertilizer production at Phu Nong Production, Trade and Service Joint Stock Company, Bim Son town.

At this time, farmers in the province are focusing on taking care of spring crops, so the demand for fertilizers and pesticides is increasing. Ms. Le Thi Xuyen in Street 2, Tao Xuyen Ward ( Thanh Hoa City) said: "My family has 3 sao of rice land and 2 sao of color land, so the demand for fertilizers is up to several quintals per crop. Currently, the fertilizer and pesticide market is very rich in types and prices, I do not know which product to choose to bring efficiency to the plants. Therefore, when buying products, I often go to familiar stores and choose to buy branded products."

Mr. Nguyen Trong Thang in Hoang Chau commune (Hoang Hoa) shared: "On the 1 hectare area of asparagus grown by my family according to VietGAP standards, the source of fertilizer I use is organic microbial fertilizer, and pesticides are limited to the maximum extent. If I have to use them, I only use them when absolutely necessary and use pesticides that are on the list of permitted pesticides, helping to increase crop productivity, improve product quality, ensure safety and especially be environmentally friendly."

Thieu Yen Trading Joint Stock Company, Quan Lao town (Yen Dinh) is a business specializing in supplying fertilizers through a system of 200 agents in the province. General Director of the Company Trinh Xuan Tan said: The source of fertilizer supplied to the market each year by the enterprise is from 35,000 to 40,000 tons of all kinds. In the winter-spring crop of 2023-2024, the company imported 20,000 tons of all kinds of fertilizers and has supplied nearly 15,000 tons to the market. The company is committed to only trading in quality fertilizers imported from branded fertilizer manufacturers in the Vietnamese fertilizer market such as: Phu My, Lam Thao, Han Viet... supplying to agents in the province at reasonable prices. Absolutely do not import unbranded, floating, fake, poor quality fertilizers... to avoid causing damage to agents and farmers.

In the province, there are currently 18 fertilizer manufacturing enterprises, 1 enterprise processing, bottling, packaging pesticides and 2,248 fertilizer and pesticide trading establishments. At fertilizer and pesticide trading establishments, the products for sale include products produced by branded enterprises and products of enterprises that are quite new and unfamiliar to consumers. The items are arranged in a messy manner and do not have price lists. Most of the pesticide product stores do not have separate compartments and are arranged together with vegetable seeds.

Fertilizers and pesticides are the leading factors affecting productivity, crop quality and the health of users. However, most farmers when buying these products do not know which fertilizers and pesticides are of poor quality. Therefore, the choice of which products to buy depends on the feelings and recommendations of the business establishments, so it contains many risks.

To prevent counterfeit and poor quality goods and protect consumer rights, in addition to propaganda and recommendations for people to know, the functional branches in the province have increased inspections, detected and promptly handled establishments producing and trading counterfeit and poor quality goods. In 2023 and 2 months of 2024, the Inspectorate of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection inspected, detected and handled 18 establishments selling goods that did not ensure quality. The total fine was nearly 3,111.6 million VND; 32.14 tons of fertilizers; 160 liters and 60 kg of pesticides were recovered and recycled.

In order to control the fertilizer and pesticide market in the coming time, tighten the control of fake and poor quality goods, the relevant departments, branches, forces of the province and local authorities need to step up propaganda work to raise awareness, understanding of the law and responsibility of producers and traders. Along with that, step up the inspection and surprise inspection of production and trading establishments, resolutely handle violations according to regulations if violations are detected.

For farmers, if you are suspicious about the quality of fertilizer, you should try it on short-term vegetables because it only takes 5-7 days to know the results. When applying fertilizer, you should leave a small amount along with the packaging and label so that in case of an incident, you can still keep evidence. At the same time, contact the authorities immediately if you discover or suspect that the store is selling fake or poor quality fertilizer.

Article and photos: Minh Ly

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