Dong Thap farmers supported to use of pesticides safely and effectively

On December 8, the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dong Thap Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Vietnam Croplife Association signed a cooperation agreement on supporting farmers to use pesticides safely and effectively from 2021 to 2025.

Under the programme, local farmers would be trained and supported to access principles of pesticide use safely, effectively and responsibly.

Farmers and local officials would be trained about pesticide use, pesticide preparation, spraying, principles in integrated pest management (IPM),  the use of personal protective equipment when exposed to the pesticide, and collection and treatment of pesticide containers.

Under the programme, models of economical, safe and effective use of pesticides, and environmental protection models would be developed.  The trade and use of pesticides in the locality would be inspected and examined regularly.

In the first phase, the program will focus on key crops of Dong Thap province such as rice and fruit trees.

The program targets that by 2025, all staff will be professionally trained on the economical, safe and effective use of pesticides; 70 per cent of pesticide traders, farmers in key growing areas about using pesticides safely and effectively; all of the pesticide packages are collected according to regulations; building 8 models of environmental protection in specialised farming areas.

Regarding the cooperation mechanism, the parties agreed to report every 3 months, and evaluate the implementation results in each year and plan for the next year.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Director of the Plant Protection Department Hoang Trung said that the cooperation program on safe and effective use of pesticides helped raise public awareness and habits of responsible use of pesticides.

"Based on close cooperation between the three parties, we believe that the abuse of pesticides will change in the coming time. That is the basis for building safe and quality agricultural production models," said Trung.

Over the years, the Plant Protection Department and the Vietnam CropLife Association have coordinated to deploy many programs to guide the use of pesticides, develop planting area codes for mango and longan trees for export in Son La province. They also cooperated to train farmers on IPM on rice in the Mekong Delta and launched a week of safe and effective use of pesticides in seven provinces in the Mekong Delta.

These programs have achieved good results in raising the awareness and habits of using pesticides for the people and improving the capacity of local officials to manage and mobilise farmers to contribute to boosting the exports of local agricultural products to demanding markets.

Hoang Trung, Director of the Plant Protection Department committed that the department will coordinate with the parties to develop a set of documents and videos on instructions for safe and effective use of pesticides, documents on collection and handling of pesticide packaging after use.

The department would organise training classes for technical staff on regulations related to pesticide management, urging involved parties to follow the plan.

"We believe that the program will contribute to improving the responsibility of farmers, thereby improving the value of agricultural products of Dong Thap province in particular and the status of Vietnamese agricultural products in general," Trung said.