The Ministry estimated that fertilisers used inagriculture reached 2.5 to 3 million tonnes a year, 50 to 70 percent ofwhich was discharged into the environment.
Meanwhile, 335 spotswith pesticide residues in soils had been identified nationwide butthey had not been cleaned up effectively.
Cultivation land wasbeing degraded due to landslides, erosion, desertification andsalination. Up to 9.3 million hectares of land, accounting for 28percent of natural land, are threatened by desertification.
Inthe northern mountainous provinces and the Central Highland, the totalland subject to erosion could equal 150 tonnes per hectare.-VNA