The great achievements of Vietnam’s agriculture in the last decades are undeniable: Vietnam has turned from a country with food shortages into a big farm produce exporter.
However, Vietnamese farmers, after a long period of trying to increase productivity and race after export growth, have seen the agricultural development slow down.
Scientists have warned about pollution caused by inappropriate cultivation methods, warning that this is the reason behind unsustainable development.
In Mekong Delta, farmers now have three rice crops a year instead of two, a controversial issue, especially in the context of climate change and salinity.
The experts, who oppose the 3-crop method, said that intensive farming would dry them out because it doesn’t have time to rest.
Meanwhile, the additional rice output created by the third crop cannot compensate for the damage it causes to the soil.
In other countries, farmers only have two crops a year and let the land ‘relax’ in the remaining time to create high-quality farm produce. Land needs to recover, be protected against insects, and have balanced pH.
In the Mekong Delta, with the three-crop model, farmers rely on fertilizer and pesticides to obtain the highest possible yields.
A recent survey in the delta showed that households spend VND20-25 million each on fertilizer and pesticides for each hectare of rice field.
The abuse of chemical fertilizer and pesticides not only is seen on rice fields, but also on vegetables and industrial crops.
Scientific research has found waste in using fertilizer in coffee, rubber and pepper cultivation in the central region, Central Highlands and southeastern region.
It is estimated that farmers have to spend VND30-40 million on fertilizer and pesticides for every hectare of coffee and rubber.
The unreasonable use of fertilizer and pesticide, plus uncontrolled deforestation in the Central Highlands and southeastern region have contaminated the once fertile land.
Scientists have repeatedly warned about the sulfur poisoning of the land in the Central Highlands. Prior to 1996, the land suffered from the lack of sulfur with the sulfur concentration of 15-30 ppm, because of which coffee gardens had low yield.
However, there are clear signs of sulfur abundance. 17.6 percent of land samples out of 114 tested samples were found as having the sulfur concentration of 30 ppm, while 23.5 percent 32-100 ppm and 59 percent over 100 ppm.
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