Asked about how to take care of rice and subsidiary crop fields, Nguyen Danh Long in Chuong My district said it is not easy to put manure on the crops in the right way, though this is routine work for farmers. They mostly do the work as per instructions from manufacturers.

Nguyen Thi Thoa from the Hanoi agriculture department said farmers have the habit of using urea in large quantity, and they don’t use nitrate, phosphate and potassium fertilizer in in the right proportions. 

They fertilize plants not at the right time or use low-quality fertilizer, and don’t use, or use in small quantities, organic fertilizer. Regarding the fertilizer, they just spread fertilizer on the ground, and do not bury it under the ground.

They fertilize plants not at the right time or use low-quality fertilizer, and don’t use, or use in small quantities, organic fertilizer. Regarding the fertilizer, they just spread fertilizer on the ground, and do not bury it under the ground.

As for rice plants, because farmers use too much urea, the plants look dark green but have poor resistance to pests and diseases.

Nguyen Duy Hong, head of the Hanoi Plant Protection Agency, said that many farmers have not been trained in fertilizer use. Farmers tend to use 3-7 times more than needed. 

This leads to an excess of nitrate in vegetables and fruits, which would turn into nitrite, harming people and affecting genetic sources. The excess of nitrate cannot be absorbed by plants, and will exist in soil or washed away by rain, thus polluting water sources.

According to Nguyen Thi Thao, a farmer from Thanh Oai district, the land was very fertile in 1990s, but it has changed because of fertilizer overuse. 

To show the pollution level caused, Doan Viet Tuan, head of the environment sub-department in Thanh Oai district, said Day and Nhue rivers and the lakes in the district have become increasingly polluted.

The way of using fertilizer is a factor that determines the yield and quality of farm produce. Scientists pointed out that the waste from cultivation to the environment is on the rise, while control is ineffective.

The waste from fertilizer is the most worrying. There are 26 hectares of land for cultivation throughout the country, while the total volume of fertilizer used is 10-11 million tons per annum. It is estimated that nitrate fertilizer application efficiency is 30-45 percent, while the figures are 40-45 percent for phosphate and 40-50 percent for potassium.

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Kim Chi