Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, director of the Department of Science, Technology and Environment, speaks at the ‘Agricultural by-products – renewable resources’ workshop in HCM City. (Photo: VNA)If exploited well the by-products would not only bring about huge economicefficiency, but also contribute to environmental protection, an internationalworkshop heard in HCM City on September 28.
Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, Director of the Department of Science, Technology andEnvironment, speaking at the ‘Agricultural by-products – renewable resources’workshop, said agriculture plays a significant role in the country’seconomy, and was a pillar of the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But agriculture also generates a large volume of by-products, which, if notproperly managed, would cause pollution and be a waste of organic resources,she said.
In 2020 they amounted to more than 156.8 million tonnes, including 88.9 milliontonnes from harvests and processing of crops, 61.4 million tons of cattle andpoultry manure, 5.5 million tonnes from forestry, and one million tonnes fromfisheries, she said.
“From the perspective of a circular agricultural economy associated with greengrowth, by-products in agriculture, forestry and fisheries must be considered arenewable resource rather than waste, an important input that extends theagricultural value-added chain.”
Nguyen Huu Ninh, deputy director of the Department of Science, Technology andEnvironment, said only 52% of crop by-products are collected and used.
Rice straw is used as forage for cattle, filler for livestock breeding housesand biological bed for livestock, growing mushroom and others, but almost halfis burnt, causing pollution, he said.
“Annual biomass by-products from main crops such as rice, corn, sugarcane, andvegetables can provide an equivalent amount of 43.4 million tonnes of organicfertilisers, 1.86 million tonnes of urea nitrogen, 1.68 million tonnes ofsingle superphosphate, and 2.23 million tonnes of potassium sulfate.
“However, these nutrients are almost completely wasted, and there are noincentive mechanisms for reusing them.”
The cost of treating the by-products is high, leading to their loss, he said.
Referring to livestock by-products, he said only 23% is used to produce organicfertilisers, while the rest goes waste.
The country earned 275 million USD from processing fisheries by-products in2020, but if the nearly one million tonnes are fully exploited using technology,the value would rise to 4-5 billion USD.”
Assoc Prof Dr Bui Ba Bong, a former deputy agriculture minister, said topromote the use of by-products the Government needs to change policies todovetail with the circular value chain.
Ninh too said the Government needs to tweak mechanisms and policies toencourage businesses to participate in the processing of agriculturalby-products.
Besides having policies to encourage circular agricultural production, thecountry also needs to improve research and the use of technology in processingby-products, he said.
Besides, it is necessary to promote communication about by-products, greengrowth in agriculture and smart agriculture in response to climate change, headded.
Jesus Lavina, deputy head of Cooperation for the EU Delegation to Vietnam,said: "Whereas agriculture is a major contributor to greenhouse gasemissions it also brings significant opportunities to combat climate change,through, for instance, carbon sequestration in healthy soils and providingalternative renewable sources like biogas, agricultural by-products or waste toenergy approaches.”
The workshop was organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developmentin collaboration with the project "Promotion of supply and demand ofEco-Fair Agri-food processing products in Vietnam" funded by the EuropeanUnion./.
VNA
