Vietnam spends over VND52 billion on daily imports of pesticides

Despite a decline compared to the same period of last year, pesticide imports hit over US$208 million during the first quarter of this year. Imports from China fell off by VND3 billion per month but the high import value of the sensitive product remains a matter of concern.

It’s noteworthy that eco-friendy pesticides are incapable of competing with Chinese products in terms of price due to the price subsidy policies, and the presence of counterfeit brands and packaging of foreign products.

The Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reports that Vietnam has around 1,700 pest control chemicals used in 4,080 products.

However, in addition to pesticides, the agricultural industry has to import fertilisers from other countries. Up to the end of March, Vietnam imported more than 940,000 tons of fertiliser worth over US$262 million, of this, 309,000 tons were bought from China at a value of US$78 million.