Measures urged to minimise agricultural pollution
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong has asked agencies under the ministry to roll out urgent measures to minimise and end environmental pollution and degradation due to agricultural activities.
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The minister instructed more communications activities to raise public awareness of environmental protection laws and their own responsibilities, as well as more training courses for environment officials.
At the same time, it is necessary to focus more on environmental preservation during the consideration, verification and implementation of projects, along with more careful environmental risk reports for major projects.The minister requested agencies to tighten the supervision over water quality in irrigation works to ensure unpolluted water for production, and issue more guidelines to farmers in using organic fertilizers and the recycling of agricultural auxiliary products into fertilizer.
The ministry will expand sustainable production models which are adaptive to climate change and reduce green house gas emission.
Minister Cuong also requested for stricter inspection of the trading and quality of pesticide, fertilizers and animal feed.
The discharge of waste and wastewater in aquaculture will be subject to closer monitor to ensure they do not pollute the water environment.
According to the ministry, the agricultural sector is employing 70 percent of the country’s population, but its growth is accompanied by increasing pollution in farms and rural areas due to the abuse of fertilizer and pesticide and a lack of legal framework for waste treatment.
The ministry attributed the problem to poor awareness of people in environmental protection, inadequate investment in the work as well as low effectiveness in law enforcement in the field.
Some environment criteria in the new-style rural area building programme have yet to suit specific conditions of each region, while environmental inspection has received little attention.
