The plant - the largest of its kind in the north - provides 250,000 tonnes of organic fertiliser each year. — Photo nhandan.com.vn

HCM City-based Que Lam Group inaugurated its bio-organic fertiliser plant, capitalised at VND500 billion (US$21.6 million), in the northern province of Vinh Phuc late last week.

The 4ha plant – the largest of its kind in the north – has an annual production capacity of 250,000 tonnes of fertiliser.

Que Lam Group General Director Nguyen Thanh Vinh said the plant is developed to meet the rising demand for quality organic fertiliser products in the northern region. It is also the second plant of his company in Vinh Phuc Province’s Binh Xuyen District.

For his part, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong described the launch of this plant as good news for the country’s farming industry which is under a restructuring process towards a ‘green, clean, safe and sustainable’ sector.

He called on Que Lam Group and other firms to accompany the State to overcome current challenges and improve the value of their farm produce in global supply chains.

Que Lam Group is among the leading firms producing and trading organic fertiliser. It is now operating eight organic fertiliser plants across Viet Nam, providing 500,000 tonnes of products each year.

The company aims to produce 1.5 million tonnes of organic fertiliser by 2020, two million tonnes by 2025 and 3.5 million tonnes by 2035.

Viet Nam’s farming sector uses 11 million tonnes of fertilisers, only 8 per cent of which is organic, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The ministry said fertiliser plays a key role in farming. Viet Nam has 10 million hectares of farmland. Organic production covers only 43,000ha of land which means organic fertiliser has not been widely used.

If each hectare of farmland needs 10 tonnes of organic fertiliser, it is estimated Viet Nam needs 100 million tonnes of organic fertiliser to have safe products, recover soil and protect the environment. — VNS