Fertilizer packaging hides traps that cheat farmers; be vigilant when buying
Drying organic fertilizer for application: drying human and livestock manure causes flies and maggots to breed and loses the fertilizer's nitrogen nutrients. The correct method is to pile and compost the organic fertilizer until it is thoroughly decomposed and use it as a base fertilizer. For example, in late July, in a sunny spot, take 4,000 kg of human manure or chicken manure, add 100 kg of calcium magnesium phosphate fertilizer and 400 kg of chopped wheat straw, mix them, and pile the mixture into a steamed-bun shape, then cover it with plas...
The national standard GB18382-2001 "Fertilizer Labeling Content and Requirements" sets clear requirements for the specific content and format of fertilizer packaging labels. Taking compound fertilizers and organic fertilizers as examples, their packaging label content includes:1. Fertilizer name and trademark. The fertilizer name already specified by national standards or industry standards should be indicated. For example, XXX brand compound fertilizer (complex fertilizer), organic fertilizer. If there is a trade name, it may be marked below the product name in a font one size smaller. Product names are not allowed to add untrue or exaggerated wording, such as "high-efficiency XXX", "XXX fertilizer king", "all-element XXX fertilizer", etc.
2. Total nutrient content and the indicated value of each single nutrient. This is the part where unscrupulous manufacturers often play tricks, and farmers should pay special attention to it. Compound fertilizers should indicate the percentage content of total nutrients N, P2O5, and K2O. The indicated total nutrient value should not be lower than the sum of the indicated values of the single nutrients in the formula, and other elements must not be counted into the total nutrients. The percentage contents of total nitrogen, phosphorus pentoxide, and potassium chloride should be indicated separately in the formula, such as a 25% nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium compound fertilizer 10-5-10. For binary fertilizers, a "0" should be marked in the position of the missing single nutrient, such as nitrogen-potassium compound fertilizer 15-0-10. Even if medium elements or trace elements are added, they must not be marked on the packaging label. In addition, if the product contains chlorine, the word "contains chlorine" must be noted. Organic fertilizers or organic-inorganic compound fertilizers must indicate organic matter content. According to the existing standards for organic fertilizers and organic-inorganic compound fertilizers, the organic matter content in organic fertilizers and organic-inorganic compound fertilizers must be greater than 30% and 20%.
3. Production license number (for compound fertilizers), fertilizer registration certificate number, and the product's standard number. At present, the state implements production license management for compound fertilizers, so the production license number must be marked on the packaging label of compound fertilizers. According to the Ministry of Agriculture's "Measures for the Administration of Fertilizer Registration", the provincial agricultural administrative departments manage the registration of compound fertilizers, organic fertilizers, organic-inorganic compound fertilizers, etc. circulating on the market, and the fertilizer registration certificate number must also be marked on the packaging label, for example in the form of Yue Nong Fei (2003) Lin Zi No. 100 or Yue Nong Fei (2003) Zhun Zi No. 100; the packaging label must indicate the standard number implemented by the fertilizer product, such as GB15063-2001, GB18877-2002, etc.
4. Name and address of the production or distribution unit. The unit name and address should be the name and address of the producer or distributor that has been registered according to law and can bear responsibility for product quality.
When buying fertilizer, farmers must read the above contents clearly, and decide whether to buy according to crop needs and nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium content or organic matter content, or judge whether the fertilizer price is reasonable. They should be more vigilant against other exaggerated or misleading promotional content. In response to the deceptive tactics used by unscrupulous manufacturers against farmers in recent years, the main traps are the following 5 types:
1. Exaggerating total nutrient content. According to national fertilizer labeling standards, the nutrient content in compound fertilizers refers to the total content of the three elements nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Medium elements such as calcium, magnesium, and sulfur and trace elements are not labeled. However, some manufacturers deliberately add all these medium elements into the total nutrients, or in some organic-inorganic compound fertilizers write organic matter into the total nutrients as well. Some binary fertilizers even count medium elements such as calcium, magnesium, and sulfur into the total nutrients, causing compound fertilizers whose actual total nutrient content is only 25 or 30 to reach 40 or even above 50 through false labeling.
2. Selling binary fertilizers disguised as ternary fertilizers. A common method is to mark medium element or organic matter content in the formula. Although it is clearly a binary compound fertilizer, it is labeled "nitrogen: 15; phosphorus: 15; copper, zinc, iron, manganese, etc.: 15", or N-PK-S 15-15-15. This kind of labeling gives the impression of a ternary compound fertilizer, causing crops to suffer yield reduction due to lack of certain nutrients.
3. Some enterprises deliberately print trade names, trademark names, and enterprise names in pinyin on the outer packaging bags to mislead consumers into thinking they are imported products. They make a big fuss using farmers' worship of imported compound fertilizers, putting on country names similar to European countries, such as changing "country of origin" to "country of raw material origin", using "Nuoerwei", "Danmai", "Nawei", as well as "Russian technology", or using wording such as "raw materials from Russia, China, Canada" to mislead farmers.
4. Exaggerating product effects. Deceptive names are placed on packaging bags, such as "all-element", "multifunctional", "drought-resistant, disease-resistant", etc.
5. Counterfeiting or fraudulently using fertilizer registration certificate numbers. Farmers can check online or by telephone to find out whether the fertilizer is legally registered.