Packaging materials of fertilisers are polluting the environment (Source: VNA)Environmental protection continues to be a leading important task of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in the time ahead as pollution remains serious in the agricultural sector, said Minister Cao Duc Phat.
The minister made the statement at a conference to review agricultural and rural environment protection during 2011-2015 in Hanoi on October 16.
In agriculture, the abuse of inorganic fertilisers has degraded cultivated land and reduced crop productivity. Vietnamese farmers use around 2.4 million tonnes of chemical fertilisers each year, which means that more than 200 tonnes of packaging materials are discarded to the environment.
In the animal husbandry industry, over 82 million tonnes of solid waste are discharged annually, causing serious pollution to the environment.
Meanwhile, deforestation, and weak planning and lack of advanced waste treatment technologies in the aquaculture and forestry sectors also add to pollution.
As such, Minister Phat urged the agricultural sector to exert efforts to make all farmers and businesses fully aware of environmental protection requirements in agriculture and rural development.
The whole sector, localities and enterprises should carry out specific measures to protect the environment, while transferring to farmers environmentally-friendly production technologies that help increase productivity, he suggested.
Developing hi-tech agriculture has been proved an effective solution to pollution, as heard at the conference.-VNA
