Abstract
Arable nitrogen emissions contribute to serious water-quality problems around the globe. To reduce pollution of the Baltic Sea, Sweden has implemented a comprehensive scheme of nitrogen abatement instruments; a uniform nitrogen fertilizer tax, green payments (subsidies), and land-use regulations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative cost-efficiency of the scheme and to analyze the implications of agricultural policy for the least-cost solution. Due to the expanse and heterogeneity of the study area, a spatially distributed nonlinear mathematical programming model, which linked changes in agricultural production practices on crop farms in Southern Sweden to coastal nitrogen load, was developed. Spatial variation in physical parameters, production costs, and the fate and transport of nitrogen were accounted for. Interactions between agricultural and nitrogen policy were shown to occur. Least-cost abatement measures changed radically with and without agricultural policy. Nitrogen policy can be construed as simply correcting for pollution induced by agricultural policy.
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