Article Health concerns drive safe vegetable value chain

DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION

Vietnam is a long, narrow, and mountainous country located in Southeast Asia. The population of Vietnam is over 80 million people, but only about one-quarter of the land is arable. Very high population densities in the Red River Delta in the north and the Mekong River Delta in the south necessitate an intensive use of the land. Following the economic reforms of the mid-1980s and early 1990s, which allowed individual farmers to produce directly for the market, increasing amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides have been used. This is particularly true for vegetable crops. In the search for increased yields, many Vietnamese farmers have embraced chemical-intensive production practices, often applying excessive amounts of chemical fertilizers and using dangerous pesticides