Improve soil health

Lecturer of Can Tho University - Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Khuong (right) said: The solution to improve soil health is to increase biological production.

Acting Director of the Long An Province Agricultural Extension and Services Center - Duong Van Tuan said: “Land is an irreplaceable means of production in agriculture. About 60% of farmers depend on land, the role of land is very important for the development of agriculture. Accordingly, land retains water, fertilizers and provides water and minerals for crops; substrate for plants to adhere to and grow; habitat for beneficial microorganisms; air conditioning for plant roots; directly affects the yield and quality of agricultural products. Therefore, it is necessary to understand soil health and soil nutrition, contributing to helping farmers manage the absorption of nutrients of crops effectively”.

However, currently, agricultural land is being degraded and infertile. The reason is that the soil of fruit and vegetable gardens lacks organic matter, leaching out nutrients; rice fields are lost due to burning straw and high temperatures, causing loss of nutrients and organic matter in the soil. In addition, farmers are used to traditional farming practices, and when they see the fields next to them being sprayed with pesticides, they also spray and spray pesticides. Farmers have not yet relied on the ability of the soil to provide nutrients and the nutritional needs of plants, so some places have excesses and some places have shortages. Therefore, crop yields are likely to be high, but quality and economic efficiency are not necessarily high, pests and diseases arise frequently and impact the environment.

Mr. Huynh Van Nam (Binh Hoa Hung commune, Duc Hue district) shared: “My family grows 5 hectares of coconut and lemon. At first, using fertilizer and chemicals, the trees grew quickly and bore fruit quickly. After two years, I had to double the amount of fertilizer and chemicals, but the trees still did not grow well, and many diseases often appeared, especially gummosis disease.”

Similar to Mr. Nam, Mr. Le Van Minh (My Thanh Dong commune, Duc Hue district) also overuses chemical fertilizers and pesticides in rice cultivation. According to Mr. Minh, Duc Hue is an alum soil area, so production costs are higher than other areas. In the Winter-Spring rice crop, production costs are from 22-25 million VND/ha, which is 7-10 million VND/ha higher than other areas.

Mr. Minh said: “Using chemical fertilizers and pesticides regularly, I see that the soil becomes barren and infertile, especially susceptible to diseases such as leaf blast, stem borers, etc. Meanwhile, the surrounding water is heavily acidic, forcing me to increase the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to protect the production area. I know that chemical fertilizers and pesticides affect the health of producers and consumers, but I have to accept it.”

In order to change farmers' awareness, recently, the Department of Agriculture has recommended organic production, limiting the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This contributes to protecting people's health, the surrounding environment and soil health. And in fact, many farmers have understood the value of soil in agricultural production.

Mr. Tran Van Lu (Tan Binh commune, Tan Thanh district) said: "Participating in the high-tech rice area has reduced the amount of fertilizer and chemical pesticides by 30%, and increased the use of organic fertilizers and biological pesticides. Over time, I have seen that diseases rarely arise, costs have decreased, and productivity is the same as before."

Lecturer of Can Tho University - Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Khuong said: "To develop sustainable agriculture, farmers need to focus on biological production. The main biological direction is to use organic fertilizers and microbial products to improve soil properties through soil cycles such as dissolving nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, contributing to providing nutrients back to the soil in biological form, which will be better. In the long term, chemical fertilizers of potassium and phosphorus still remain in the soil, so farmers need to find microorganisms that decompose immobile compounds of potassium and phosphorus to provide nutrients back to crops."

Healthy soil will help plants grow healthy, increase productivity, and contribute to food security. Healthy soil also stores carbon from the atmosphere, reducing climate change./.

Le Ngoc

Source: https://baolongan.vn/nang-cao-suc-khoe-cho-dat-a197888.html