Exploratory data for improving food safety in Vietnam using soilless vegetable production
Date
2009
Authors
Parks, S.
Newman, S.
Pham, L.
Ngo, H.
Tran, T.
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Conference paper
Citation
International Symposium on Growing Media 2007 / W.R. Carlile, A. Coules (eds): pp.325-330
Statement of Responsibility
S.E. Parks, S.M. Newman, L.M. Pham, H.T. Ngo, T.K. Tran
Conference Name
International Symposium on Growing Media (2007 : Nottingham, United Kingdom)
Abstract
There are food safety concerns in Vietnam in terms of pesticide and heavy metal residues in vegetables. Soilless vegetable production is one solution to eliminating pest and disease pressure from soil and the exposure to soil contaminants such as heavy metals. An Australian aid project (AUSAID-CARD) investigated the suitability of some locally available materials in Vietnam as soilless substrates. This paper reports on the results of two experiments carried out at the Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute in Hanoi, Vietnam. Four media were used as substrates for the production of tomatoes and cucumbers. The media included coir, or mixtures of three components including sugar cane waste, peanut husks, soybean, peat or volcanic rock. For both the tomato and cucumber crop yield was significantly increased by the use of coir as a substrate. The two crops were grown without the use of pesticides. In this experiment, the medium of sugar cane waste, peat and volcanic rock proved unsuitable for cucumber production as it produced fruit with lead levels above the maximum residue limit of 0.2 mg/kg in three out of five replicates. These results demonstrate that soilless culture can be used successfully in Vietnam as a means of reducing residues in vegetables but highlight that substrates can also potentially be a source of contaminants. Developing quality assurance systems for soilless media production will therefore be critical to minimise this risk.
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