For a long time, farmers have relied mainly on chemical fertilizers—especially after bio-fertilizer and phosphate-organic fertilizer plants became unprofitable and shut down.
With the spread of poor-quality and fake animal manure, many growers have paid less attention to organic fertilizers.
This is a serious misconception that farmers need to change quickly.
Most coffee fields in Đắk Lắk were planted more than 20 years ago. Through years of cultivation, farmers have gained valuable experience in using fertilizers more efficiently and economically.
Yet the way fertilizers are used has become increasingly unbalanced, especially between organic and chemical fertilizers.
In the past five years, organic fertilizer has become scarcer, and counterfeit products have cost farmers money while damaging many coffee gardens.
Because restoring these damaged fields is expensive, many growers now depend almost entirely on chemical fertilizers.
Previously, the province had several plants producing phosphate-organic and bio-phosphate fertilizers.
There was also a steady supply of animal manure from local villages, plus fish waste from fish-sauce production and manure shipped in from other provinces.
Today, the supply of animal manure has fallen sharply, many plants have closed, and out-of-province sources have nearly disappeared—mainly because of high transport costs.
Recently, scientists have recommended greater use of foliar fertilizers.
Foliar feeding lets plants absorb nutrients quickly and avoids losses from evaporation or leaching that occur with chemical fertilizers.
Trace elements in foliar sprays are also more effective when applied to leaves than to soil.
In addition, foliar feeding helps reduce the negative impacts of chemical fertilizers on soil and the environment while saving transport costs, fertilizer expenses, and labor.
When scientists recommend such advances, farmers should adopt them.
It is advisable to spray foliar fertilizers at least twice during the rainy season, when soil and air humidity are high, to see immediate results.
Chemical fertilizers, however, have clear limitations.
Farmers often prefer compound NPK fertilizers because they are easy to use and require no calculations of individual nutrients.
Even when straight fertilizers are used, many growers simply follow informal mixing practices rather than the actual nutrient requirements of coffee at each growth stage or the specific conditions of their own soils.
As many fertilizer brands exist as there are ways farmers apply them—leading to hidden losses and unnecessary costs.
The key to successful coffee fertilization is understanding the plant’s nutrient needs at each stage of growth—from basal fertilization for new plantings, through the establishment phase, to full production—and applying fertilizers accordingly.
Today, alongside variety selection and sustainable production, many coffee gardens have entered the old-age stage and yields are declining.
Balancing fertilizer use is therefore critical to improving soil health.
When replanting is not yet possible or when farmers want to maintain production for a few more years, soil improvement must be the top priority—especially by reintroducing organic fertilizers, which play a decisive role in sustaining yields and soil fertility.