However, in Soc TrangProvince in the Mekong Delta, a pesticide made from wild plants has been introduced to the public. What’s even more special about this pesticide is that it was created by a group of local students.
Nguyen Thi Yen Binh - a student at An Lạc Thôn High School in Soc Trang province – thought of the idea to create a pesticide from wild plants. Binh said her idea came from the fact that chemical pesticides are harmful to people’s health and the environment.
"Chemical pesticides are poisonous. We have seen that wild grasses and plants are cheap, easy to find and environmentally friendly." - Nguyen Thi Yen Binh, 11th grader,
In order to make this idea real, Binh formed a research group with her teacher and one of her classmates. After 6 months of experiments, the group successfully extracted the oils of the wild daisy and derris plant. Results from their experiments showed that a pesticide made from these extracts kills more than 95% of leaf worms.
"Leaf worms freeze and die after coming in contact with this pesticide. It is effective on silk worms, and a little bit less so on fruit worms. We are continuing our experiments to improve our organic pesticide to kill these worms faster." - Nguyen Ngoc Hai, Teacher, An Lac Thon High School, Soc Trang Prov.
"I hope our organic pesticide will be used as an alternative for chemical pesticides, which are harmful to people’s health and the environment." - Le Song Ho, An Lac Thon High School, Soc Trang Prov.
This project of creating an organic pesticide has been chosen by the SocTrang provincial Department of Education and Training to join the upcoming National Science Research Contest in Dong Nai province. This will be a good chance to promote this environmentally friendly approach.
