Using fertilizer properly helps reduce costs and increase efficiency.

Farmers in An Duong ward fertilize and take care of vegetables.

Habit of overusing fertilizers

These days the weather has changed seasons, visiting the fields, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hoa in An Lao commune saw that her vegetable growing area was not developing well, the mustard greens were yellowing, so Mrs. Hoa proactively bought phosphorus and nitrogen to fertilize. Fertilizing is a habit, mainly estimated. According to Mrs. Hoa, the weather is unusual, if there is no phosphorus and nitrogen used in higher doses than usual, vegetables will have difficulty growing and developing. Especially for some farmers who grow flowers and ornamental plants, the concept is that growing flowers requires a lot of fertilizer or pesticides to produce fresh, beautiful flowers, sell for a good price without affecting the health of consumers.

As for rice production, according to the Chairman of the Hai Phong Large Farming Club, Nguyen Manh Hung, the demand for fertilizer in production of the Club members is dozens of tons per crop due to the large cultivated area. Like his family, with a cultivated area of 40 hectares, it is necessary to use more than 40 tons. Some large farms have larger cultivated areas, the demand for fertilizer is up to more than 100 tons. The cost of fertilizer accounts for a significant amount of production costs. However, the use of fertilizer is mainly due to long-term production experience or according to the recommendations of fertilizer manufacturers.

According to scientists in the field of cultivation, currently, many farmers use up to 30% of the cost of fertilizer, the use of excess fertilizer in the soil is wasteful and easily pollutes the school, this is also a source of greenhouse gas emissions. Deputy Director of Hai Phong Agricultural Extension Center Cao Thanh Huyen informed that the use of excess fertilizer in actual production is due to farmers not knowing the dosage for each crop; along with that, the use of customary and habitual practices is difficult to change. Some farmers also believe that bundling a lot of fertilizer will bring high efficiency to crops, helping crops grow and develop quickly.

Cooperate to guide farmers to use it properly

Farmers in An Lao commune fertilize and take care of rice.

In order to overcome the situation of farmers using fertilizers indiscriminately, the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Environment , in collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture and the International Rice Research Institute, has implemented the Proper Fertilizer Use Project. The project is being implemented in the first phase in some communes in the West Hai Phong area, Hung Yen province and some provinces in the Mekong Delta. Accordingly, an important part of the project is to build a database and soil nutrient map to help farmers choose fertilizers and nutrients suitable for each type of soil. The map identifies areas that need priority improvement, such as: areas with nutrient deficiencies, salinity, acidity or low organic content, and at the same time serves to monitor productivity and adjust crop management measures.

According to Ms. Luong Thi Kiem, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the project aims to train more than 2,600 individuals, improve capacity for 24 organizations and reduce emissions of 56 thousand tons of CO2. Each year, through research, application and replication of digital technology in plant nutrition management. For Hai Phong city, in 2026, the project will continue to be implemented in communes in both the East and West of the city. Therefore, the Department's leaders highly appreciate the significance of the project, considering it a key solution to help reduce fertilizer waste, improve productivity, quality of agricultural products, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Department of Agriculture and Environment assigned the Hai Phong Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection to preside over and coordinate with project representatives to build pilot models, organize training for farmers, and monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the project.

Representatives of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection and the Hai Phong Agricultural Extension Center all affirmed that they actively propagate and encourage farmers to use fertilizers properly in many forms through supported projects, propaganda conferences, training, and building models of proper and effective fertilizer use to evaluate and encourage farmers to replicate. In addition, local authorities also need to coordinate with functional agencies in mobilizing and propagating farmers to use fertilizers properly to reduce costs, increase crop efficiency, and protect the arable land layer...

According to the report of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the area of rice and vegetable cultivation in Hai Phong city after the merger is quite large, up to 185,000 hectares of land. Accordingly, fertilizer accounts for 30% of cultivation costs.

HUONG AN

Source: https://baohaiphong.vn/su-dung-phan-bon-dung-cach-giup-giam-chi-phi-tang-hieu-qua-526222.html