Many localities are still indifferent

(Baonghean) -Every year, Nghe An cultivates over 350 thousand hectares, annually this area "consumes" about 600 - 700 tons of pesticides, releasing 50 - 70 tons of packaging and bottles into the environment. In fact, this huge amount of waste has not been properly treated, causing serious harm to the environment and human health.

Starting from the summer-autumn crop of 2011, large cement barrels appeared in the fields of Thuong Son commune (Do Luong), containing bottles and packaging of pesticides that people put in after use. Mr. Nguyen Van Huynh - Head of the Agricultural Cooperative said: Previously, after spraying pesticides, packaging was often thrown away in the fields, affecting the environment and water resources, so the commune decided to allocate nearly 10 million VND from the budget, install 40 cement barrels for garbage (average 1-2 barrels/field), and assign the management and treatment of garbage to the hamlets. At the same time, the commune regularly propagates on the loudspeaker system to encourage people to voluntarily put garbage in the bins, especially before each spraying of pesticides. In addition, mobilize youth volunteers to clean up garbage and packaging that are thrown in the fields.

Spraying pesticides on rice in Xuan Lam commune (Nam Dan)

That is a very good way to collect and treat pesticide waste in rural areas, but such "models" are still considered "rare". Mr. Phan Dinh Nham (Chairman of Xuan Lam 2 Cooperative - Nam Dan) said: The entire Cooperative has 162 hectares of rice, and in the winter crop, usually produces about 110 hectares of corn and vegetables, with all kinds of cucumbers, squash, cabbage, beans... so the amount of pesticides used every year is very large. The reality is that, except when there are widespread epidemics, the Cooperative organizes to buy pesticides and send people to spray them in bulk, then the pesticide packaging and boxes are collected, but normally, when spraying for prevention or when people spray pesticides sporadically, pesticide waste is thrown haphazardly in the fields. “We have signed a contract with Nghe An Environmental Sanitation Company to collect waste for treatment, but very few people bring this type of waste to the waste collection area. Although we know that the indiscriminate dumping of plant protection waste will greatly affect water sources, pollute the environment and affect human health, this situation has not been resolved, the commune and the cooperative have not taken any measures” - Mr. Nham admitted.

In fact, apart from a very few locations that organize the collection of pesticide waste, such as Dien Thanh commune (Dien Chau), Nghia Dan melon growing area, Quynh Minh vegetable growing area (Quynh Luu)..., in most other agricultural production areas, this issue is still "unclear". Quynh Luong commune (Quynh Luu) is considered a famous "vegetable granary" not only in the province, with a vegetable growing area of ​​up to 180 hectares. Previously, the commune also built packaging pits along the main road, but then people "conveniently" threw all kinds of garbage into the pits, making them unusable. The collection of pesticide packaging is currently only "relying" on the awareness of farmers! Or in Long Thanh commune (Yen Thanh), the total cultivated area is 576 hectares/year, of which 570 hectares are rice, the amount of pesticides used annually is also very large, but up to now the commune has not had any policy on the collection of pesticide waste...

According to the investigation results of the Provincial Plant Protection Department, in 2011, the amount of plant protection drugs supplied in Nghe An was 640 tons, of which pesticides were 147 tons, fungicides were 153.3 tons, herbicides were 320 tons and other pesticides were 40.98 tons. With that amount of drugs, each year we have about 50 - 70 tons of packaging and bottles discharged into the environment that need to be treated. According to Mr. Nguyen Tien Duc (Head of the Provincial Plant Protection Department), in order to have increasingly high productivity and crop yield, in addition to the role of varieties and good production regimes, the use of plant protection drugs to protect crops and ensure the ecological environment is an indispensable requirement.

However, the current development of the market economy has created diversity and complexity in both supply sources and methods of supplying pesticides to farmers. Statistics from the Nghe An Plant Protection Department show that there are currently nearly 1,000 pesticide trading establishments in the province. The management of trading and use mainly depends on the specialized management agency, the Plant Protection Department; however, due to the large area, diverse and abundant crops, small-scale traders, seasonal crops, and low awareness of environmental protection among users, this has led to the situation of packaging and bottles being thrown away haphazardly after use. According to experts in the plant protection industry, after use, the amount of residual pesticides on the packaging is not small, if thrown away haphazardly, when it rains, it will flow out and seep into the soil and groundwater. Up to now, although there has not been an official overview assessment, it can be affirmed that these are risks that cause environmental pollution and affect human health...

To limit this danger, in addition to the specialized agency of the plant protection sector, the participation of authorities at all levels is needed. In fact, local authorities, especially commune authorities, have not really paid attention to the management of the trade and use of plant protection drugs. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Binh (Head of the Inspection Department - Provincial Plant Protection Department) said: Most communes do not understand their functions and authority in the management of plant protection drugs in the locality, which is making the trade and use of plant protection drugs in recent times quite complicated. It is very common for farmers to misuse drugs and spray drugs many times, causing great damage to the economy and affecting the ecological environment.

Therefore, the model of collecting waste from the use of pesticides is considered an important solution to contribute to environmental protection, reducing pollution both now and in the future. Currently, the Provincial Plant Protection Department has developed a project on the management of trading and use of pesticides, including building a pilot model of collecting waste from farmers' use of pesticides in the fields, to then replicate on a large scale. In the direction of collecting and thoroughly destroying used pesticide packaging. Hopefully, this method will be applied by many localities to contribute to limiting the risk of environmental pollution caused by pesticide waste in each locality.

Article and photos: Phu Huong