Over the years, agriculture that has focused on productivity and profitability has made chemical farming popular. However, advantages and disadvantages. Benefits are decreasing, the harm is more and more and leaving consequences in the long run. In particular, the natural ecosystem once destroyed will be extremely difficult to regenerate and protect.
So what has chemical agriculture been doing with natural ecology, let's find out in this article!
Farmers spray pesticides on rice at Hamlet 3, Tan Nhut Commune, Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City on the afternoon of October 12 - Cre: Quang Dinh1/ Soil Degradation
The first and most obvious problem when using chemical fertilizers is soil degradation. This is due to the lack of organic matter. Then the amount of humus decreases, causing problems such as:
- The soil texture is destroyed, the soil becomes hard
- Reduced ability to hold water
- The ability to conserve nutrients is also reduced
- Microorganisms decrease in number, diversity and inefficient activity
In addition, chemical farming is also the main agent in destroying the microbiome in the soil. Good soil is soil with good physical structure, good chemical balance, biological balance and active activity. The use of chemical fertilizers only improves the performance of certain minerals while harming the physical or chemical and biological quality of the soil.
Chemical fertilizers used in agriculture cause: imbalance in soil pH, rapid reduction of humus, eradication of some microorganisms due to reduced pH, etc.
To solve these problems, people are using more and more chemicals. This is only a temporary measure but causes other problems by increasing soil degradation.
2/ Increasing epidemics
Degraded land is soil with poor health. Soil that is in poor health will give rise to unhealthy plants that make them vulnerable to pests and diseases. Today, farmers use chemical pesticides, which are toxic and harmful to all living things, including natural enemies.
People often do not care about controlling pests and diseases with the natural balance, but tend to use chemicals to have a temporary effect, from which the disease problem is not solved and becomes worse and worse. worse.
3/ Deterioration of food quality
Products grown with chemical fertilizers are potentially harmful to health and reduce product quality. The deterioration of food quality can be clearly seen through taste and preservation.
On the other hand, poor quality is not only reflected in the taste and preservation ability but also in the nutrient content of the product. Recently, many studies on nutrients in food have shown the difference between products fertilized with chemical fertilizers and products fertilized with natural organic fertilizers.
As a result, chemically fertilized produce has a lower nutrient content, and high water content can be one of the main causes of poor taste and low storage capacity.
4/ Pollution of soil, water, air and products
The use of chemical pesticides causes the surrounding environment to be polluted like toxic chemicals. They are useful in killing organisms and preserving potency for a long time. But because of that, they are really dangerous for all living things.
Toxins contaminate products first, then soil, air, and finally water. This pollution results in toxic products, degraded soil, and severely imbalanced natural flora.
5/ Hazards to Health
Human health is compromised through two ways.
The first is eating contaminated agricultural products and other infectious foods (feed, milk, fish, etc.) of agricultural production specialized in chemical fertilizers. Toxins accumulate in the living body through a wide range of food and pose a threat to health. If people continue to eat contaminated food, the toxins in the body will accumulate more and more.
The second is a chemical pesticide that directly affects the farmer who uses it. Most people who use or handle pesticides do not have personal protective equipment (sometimes they use their bare hands and don't wear gloves) to spread the fertilizer, so they are the most severely affected.
6/ The disappearance of local species
Local species are the genetic basis for breeding improvement and an extremely important reserve for the future. However, each year more and more local species disappear.
The main reason is the lack of selective breeding for sustainability. Farmers have abandoned local varieties and grown some high yielding varieties and hybrids. That has promoted monoculture and caused ecological imbalance in agriculture.
