Currently, only three chemical and biological fertiliser companies are legally registered – Savannakhet Fertiliser Limited, Maliny Agriculture Limited, and Lao Kai Yuan Mining Limited, according to the website of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.\u00a0Savannakhet Fertiliser Limited has registered seven products: 21-7-18, 16-16-8, 27-9-14, 21-0-0, 24-9-14, 42-0-0 and 23-12- 12. The products will expire in 2020.\u00a0Maliny Agriculture Limited has one registered product: Organic compound fertiliser under the trade names 5 Star Maliny Organic\u00a0Fertiliser and 5 Star Maliny Organic Fertiliser. Their organic fertiliser registration is valid until 2020.\u00a0Lao Kai Yuan Mining Limited has registered two products, 0-0-60 (K2O\u00a0potassium oxide \u2265 60 per cent) capsules and 0-0-60 (K2O \u2265\u00a060 per cent) powder with the Lao Kai Yuan trademark, which is valid until 2020.<\/p>\n
Over recent decades, overseas entrepreneurs have invested in agriculture, producing crops for export, but many have used vast amounts of chemicals, including fertiliser, which\u00a0may affect soil quality and\u00a0impact upon local people\u2019s health. This is especially true of banana plantations in the northern provinces.\u00a0The government\u2019s policy is to use more organic fertilisers in crop production and accordingly has been encouraging the establishment of facilities for the product in some provinces.\u00a0Some bio-fertiliser factories have halted their\u00a0operations in the face of stiff\u00a0competition from imported chemical fertiliser.\u00a0Bio-fertiliser is a substance which contains living microorganisms which, when applied to seeds, plant surfaces or soil, promote growth by increasing the supply of primary nutrients to the host plant. Bio-fertilisers add nutrients through the natural\u00a0processes of nitrogen fixation,\u00a0solubilising phosphorus, and stimulating plant growth through the synthesis of growth-promoting substances.\u00a0Bio-fertiliser manufacturers are struggling to expand their production and compete with chemical fertiliser.\u00a0Significant obstacles range from difficulty in\u00a0accessing finance, a lack of\u00a0promotion about the product\u00a0and flexible tax policies.<\/p>\n