In recent years food safety has become a pressing issue for most people because it is the primary factor affecting their health. Ms Thu Hang, who works in the office of a garment company in Hanoi, said that sometimes she goes to the market and walks among rows of fruit, vegetables and meat but can’t decide what to buy. “I have a six-month-old baby and he’s now eating rice soup mixed with meat and vegetables,” she said. “I worry very much about his meals and his health because I know that some food, especially vegetables and meat like pork and beef is now not that safe, but I have no other choice.”
Many farmers in Vietnam only look as far as their immediate profit and how to sell their products quickly, and so find any and all ways to shorten the growth period for vegetables as well for animals by using pesticides, chemicals, and chemical fertiliser on their fruit and vegetables and feed their animals like chickens, pigs, and ducks with stimulants. As a result, the meat contains toxic chemical substances that affect people’s health.
The farmers themselves also cannot avoid being affected after handing the pesticides and other chemicals.
Some consumers in Hanoi, especially women with babies, have begun to take to the concept of organic food, which is already popular around the world. But to Vietnamese people the concept is still new and raises many questions among consumers about what organic vegetables are and what methods they’re grown under.
To learn about how organic vegetables are grown, VET visited some organic fields in Xuan Giang and Thanh Xuan communes in Hanoi’s Soc Son district. According to Mr Pham Cong Khai, an agricultural engineer with Xuan Giang’s organic vegetable project, the organic vegetable field sits on 10,000 sq m and the project is sponsored by the Danish NGO, ADDA. He also said that there are about 600 organic vegetable fields in Soc Son, in which most are in Xuan Giang commune, with two teams, and Thanh Xuan commune, with three teams. The method of planting the vegetables is taught by ADDA at a three-month training course for farmers.
Ms Lai Thi Ha, a farmer working at the organic vegetable project in Xuan Giang, said that the principle behind planting organic crops is the complete absence of any chemical fertilisers or other chemical substances to stimulate their growth or provide insect protection. “We follow all of the guidance given by the project and strictly carry it out,” she said.
Mr Khai explained: “Growing organic vegetables does not involve the use of any artificial fertilisers, so compost is used. Compost contains natural nitrogen, phosphate and potassium.” Made from vegetable leftovers and livestock faeces mixed with an artificial fermenting agent, the compost is ready after three months, said Ms Nguyen Thi Hien, a farmer working in the project at Xuan Giang.
An interesting and effective way of growing organic vegetables is the method of intercropping various kinds of vegetables in one row. Ms Ha said that all farmers in the project intercrop different kinds of vegetables in this manner. Mr Khai explained that the method avoids the spread of pestilence. “For instance, tomatoes and cabbage suffer from different insects, and if they are grown separately on large areas it creates the conditions necessary for insects to breed and spread quickly,” said Mr Khai. “Therefore, intercropping cabbage with cauliflower or other types of vegetables that suffer from different insects results in the speed and influence of pestilence being limited.” Moreover, the method also helps take full advantage of nutritive substances and balances their amounts in soil because each vegetable absorbs different nutrients.
In order to protect organic vegetables from the effects of nearby vegetable fields using chemicals, farmers build walls of elephant grasses around their fields. “The grass can grow to over two metres in height and is a very effective way of blocking out chemicals from other fields,” Mr Khai explained.
With serious intent to not use any types of pesticides, farmers grow pungent vegetables like onions and citronellas. These plants, Ms Hien said, help to drive away insects with their pungent smell. Farmers also spend nearly all their time tending to their organic vegetables by removing grass, weeds and caterpillars and watering them. “In the evening, from 7pm to 8pm, farmers take a light and go to the field to pull out caterpillars, which destroy cabbages,” she said.
Although it requires more work than conventional growing methods, farmers recognise the benefits of planting organic vegetables. Ms Hong, a farmer growing organic vegetables in Thanh Xuan, said: “Although growing organic vegetables is harder than growing with chemical substances, my family’s health has become better and we eat safe and fresh vegetables. Organic vegetables sell in the market for 30 to 40 per cent more than conventional vegetables. I don’t touch pesticides and I feel healthier.” So does Ms Hien. “When I used to spray chemicals on my vegetables I had headaches and felt dizzy,” she said. “Now I work harder and spend much more time pulling out grass or removing caterpillars, but I feel healthier. When working in the fields I can eat a tomato or a cucumber without having to worry about the health risks.”
Growing organic vegetables also helps to protect the environment. Ms Ha said that when the farmers come to work in the field they do not have to breathe in polluted air any more. “We don’t have to worry about pollution because our environment is so fresh now,” she said. “We are all very happy.”
Nonetheless, Ms Ha also said that farmers growing organic vegetables suffer a loss because they are not as big or as smooth as conventionally-grown products. Organic vegetables are also not yet popular among Vietnamese consumers so do not sell in large amounts, so farmer incomes are not so high. “Not all of our output is bought by the company, so we still must go take them to the market and sell at a very low price because of their appearance,” she sighed. “Organic vegetables are not so attractive because chemicals and pesticides aren’t used.”
Farmers working in the organic vegetable project in Thanh Xuan and Xuan Giang communes know that profits will improve if the vegetables can achieve a stable price and the company starts to buy large quantities. “We have not earned much so far because we often don’t sell everything we grow, but we are determined to continue,” said Ms Hong. All of the farmers have the same desire. “If the company buys our products then our efforts will not be wasted,” said Ms Ha.
