Pesticide Expenditure Research Articles

Can outsourcing pest and disease control help reduce pesticide expenditure? Evidence from rice farmers

Can outsourcing pest and disease control help reduce pesticide expenditure? Evidence from rice farmers

The role of agricultural mechanization services in reducing pesticide input: promoting sustainable agriculture and public health.

An increasing amount of pesticide input is posing a serious threat to the environment and public health. However, the quantitative analysis of the impact of agricultural mechanization services (AMS) on reducing pesticide input is not yet clear. In this study, the impact of AMS on pesticide input was estimated by using the Chinese Family Database and the endogenous switching regression model. Subsequently, testing the robustness of the model using the substitution variable method. The impact of AMS on different types of pesticides and the influence of farmers' choices of AMS on pesticide input under different terrain conditions and farm sizes were analyzed as well. The results demonstrate that AMS has a significant and negative impact on pesticide input, reducing pesticide expenditures by 56.08% for farmers who adopt AMS. For farmers who do not adopt AMS, adopting such services is assumed to reduce pesticide input by 14.97%. AMS can also reduce the use of insecticides and herbicides by over 54%. Compared to mountainous and hilly areas, AMS in plain areas increase the effectiveness of pesticide input reduction by 30.40%. Furthermore, small-scale farmers who adopt AMS can increase pesticide input reduction by 90 yuan/mu compared with large-scale farmers. Therefore, promoting the development of socialized AMS, strengthening AMS in mountainous and hilly areas, and expanding the scale of operation for small-scale farmers can help improve the effectiveness of pesticide input reduction. The results of this study can inform the development of strategies to reduce chemical pesticide use in agricultural soil.

Exploring the role of pesticide traders in protecting farmers' benefit

AbstractOwing to the inadequacy of the public extension services, farmers in developing countries often rely on the suggestions of agricultural input traders. As profit‐making agents, these traders, in their turn, may have an incentive to exploit farmers by suggesting relatively expensive inputs. In this study, the Endogenous Switching Regression (ESR) estimation method is applied to demonstrate that input traders in many ways play the substitute role of the public extension agents in a developing country. In the process, this study relied on primary information collected from 379 farmers in Bangladesh in two seasons (N = 758). Then the ESR estimation procedure is applied to predict farmer's expenditure on pesticides, conditional on whether or not they rely on traders' advice. Findings of this study suggest that pesticide expenditures are not statistically different between the farmers that rely on traders' suggestions and those that do not. The study thus concludes that by providing unbiased, useful information to the client farmers, profit‐maximizing agricultural input traders render the services of public extension workers, which corrects possible market failures.

Can mechanized pesticide application help reduce pesticide use and increase crop yield? Evidence from rice farmers in Jiangsu province, China

ABSTRACTThis study is devoted to analyzing the effects of outsourcing machinery-intensive farming activities vis-à-vis using mechanized equipment in-house on pesticide use, utilizing cross-sectional data collected from rice farmers in Jiangsu province, China. The control function approach is utilized to address the endogeneity of the decision to outsource pesticide application or complete the task in-house. Our results suggest that outsourcing pesticide application decreases pesticide expenditure but in-house application using mechanized equipment increases it. Specifically, outsourcing pesticide application reduces pesticide expenditure by about 81 yuan per mu or around 0.18 yuan per kilogram of rice produced. In comparison, the in-house application using mechanized equipment increases pesticide expenditure by 118 yuan per mu or by 0.14 yuan per kilogram of rice output. We also find that both outsourcing and in-house pesticide applications increase rice yield.

Cooperative membership and adoption of green pest control practices: Insights from rice farmers

AbstractReducing the use of chemical pesticide while preserving crop yield is a practical strategy that makes agricultural production economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. Although the adoption of green pest control practices can help achieve such a goal, its adoption rate remains quite low. This study explores whether membership in agricultural cooperatives improves smallholder farmers' adoption of green pest control practices, utilising farm‐level data surveyed from rice farmers in China. To enrich our understanding, we also investigate how the adoption of green pest control practices mediates the effects of cooperative membership on chemical pesticide expenditures. An endogenous switching probit model and a bootstrap‐based mediation method are employed to achieve these goals. The empirical results show that cooperative membership significantly increases the probability of adopting physical pest control practices (e.g. pest‐killing lamps or sticky plate traps) and biological pest control practices (e.g. biopesticides) by 6% and 19%, respectively. Cooperative membership significantly reduces chemical pesticide expenditures through its mediation effect on improving the probability of adopting biological pest control practices. There is also a complementary relationship between physical and biological pest control practices in pest management of rice production. The adoption of physical pest control practices significantly increases rice yield, while the adoption of biological pest control practices does not.

Does CAP greening affect farms’ economic and environmental performances? A regression discontinuity design analysis

Abstract The Common Agricultural Policy reform 2013–2020 has conditioned 30 per cent of the direct payments to greening requirements. Our study investigates whether one of these requirements, the ecological focus area (EFA) obligation, has led to environmental improvements while preserving farms’ economic sustainability. We apply a regression discontinuity design approach on a sample of Italian arable crop farms. Our results suggest that the EFA requirement has no significant effects on farms’ application of fertilisers, pesticide expenditure, crop diversification or economic performance. However, farmers reacted to the EFA requirement by changing their crop mix, mostly by increasing their share of leguminous crops.

Acute Kidney Failure among Brazilian Agricultural Workers: A Death-Certificate Case-Control Study.

Recent evidence suggests that pesticides may play a role in chronic kidney disease. However, little is known about associations with acute kidney failure (AKF). We investigated trends in AKF and pesticide expenditures and associations with agricultural work in two Brazilian regions with intense use of pesticides, in the south and midwest. Using death certificate data, we investigated trends in AKF mortality (1980–2014). We used joinpoint regression to calculate annual percent changes in AKF mortality rates by urban/rural status and, in rural municipalities, by tertiles of per capita pesticide expenditures. We then compared AKF mortality in farmers and population controls from 2006 to 2014 using logistic regression to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals adjusted by age, sex, region, education, and race. AKF mortality increased in both regions regardless of urban/rural status; trends were steeper from the mid-1990s to 2000s, and in rural municipalities, they were higher by tertiles of pesticide expenditures. Agricultural workers were more likely to die from AKF than from other causes, especially at younger ages, among females, and in the southern municipalities. We observed increasing AKF mortality in rural areas with greater pesticide expenditures and an association of AKF mortality with agricultural work, especially among younger workers.

Impact of large-scale, government legislated and funded organic farming training on pesticide use in Andhra Pradesh, India: a cross-sectional study

The use of pesticides in agriculture has been associated with the destruction of biodiversity and damage to human health. A marked reduction in pesticide use is urgently required globally, but whether this can be achieved rapidly and at scale is unclear. We aimed to assess whether government-legislated and funded organic farming training in Andhra Pradesh, India, reduced pesticide use by farmers and sales of pesticides by pesticide retailers. We did a cross-sectional survey between Aug 11 and Nov 26, 2020, among farmers and pesticide retailers in Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh (India). We assessed the impact of the Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming (APCNF) programme, which aims to transition 100% of the agricultural land of Andhra Pradesh (population approximately 49 million, 6 million of whom are farmers) to organic farming practices by 2030. We did cross-sectional phone interview surveys of farmers and face-to-face surveys of pesticide retailers. We used multivariable Poisson regression models to estimate relative risks (RRs) and logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (ORs). 962 farmers were invited to participate, of whom 894 (93%) consented (709 conventional farmers and 149 APCNF farmers). 47 pesticide retailers were invited to participate, of whom 38 (81%) consented. APCNF farmers had practised APCNF for a median of 2 years (IQR 1-3). APCNF farmers were less likely to use pesticides than conventional farmers (adjusted RR 0·65 [95% CI 0·57-0·75]), although pesticide use remained high among both APCNF and conventional farmers (73 [49%] of 148 APCNF farmers vs 695 [99%] of 700 conventional farmers; p<0·0001). APCNF farmers had lower pesticide expenditures than conventional farmers (median US$0 [IQR 0-170] for APCNF farmers vs $175 [91-281] for conventional farmers; p=0·0001). Increased frequency of meeting with agricultural extension workers was associated with reduced pesticide use among ACPNF farmers. Seven (18%) of 38 retailers reported a decrease in sales of pesticides in the past 4 years; no difference in the odds of reporting a decrease in pesticide sales in the past 4 years was identified between APCNF retailers and conventional retailers (OR 0·95 [95% CI 0·58-1·57]). Despite a major government drive for organic agriculture, about half of APCNF farmers continued to use pesticides and no impact on pesticide sales at local retailers was observed. A combination of policy instruments (eg, bans on highly hazardous pesticides), not solely training for farmers, might be needed to eliminate pesticide use in agriculture. Scottish Funding Council and UK Research and Innovation.

Effect of agricultural extension services in the post-reform era since the mid-2000s on pesticide use in China: evidence from rice production

ABSTRACT Pesticide overuse has resulted in serious ecological problems. Agricultural extension services play a key role in influencing farmers’ pesticide use. China has the world's largest public agricultural extension system, which has experienced a twisting path of reforms over the past four decades. However, there is little empirical evidence regarding the effects of agricultural extension services in the post-reform era since the mid-2000s. This study examines the effect of agricultural extension services in the post-reform era on pesticide use in China, using survey data of 1963 rice farmers in 2016 and 2018. Our results indicate that only 22.5% of surveyed farmers adopted agricultural extension services. After addressing the self-selectivity issue, the treatment effects model revealed that agricultural extension services in the post-reform era resulted in a 3.01 kg/ha reduction in total pesticide use, a 0.86 kg/ha reduction in application rate of active ingredients, and a 250 CNY/ha reduction in pesticide expenditure related to rice production. Our findings provide sound evidence that agricultural extension services in the post-reform era can result in a reduction in pesticide use for rice production. More effective efforts should be made to reinforce the provision of agricultural extension services and encourage farmers to adopt these services.

Parkinson’s disease hospitalization rates and pesticide use in urban and non-urban regions of Brazil

Abstract Background Few studies have evaluated the role played by pesticide exposure in the development of Parkinson’s disease (PD) in Brazil. Objective This study aimed to investigate the association between pesticide use and PD hospitalization in Brazilian micro-regions. Method Pesticide expenditure per capita in 1985 and PD hospitalization rates (HR) from 1997 to 2007 were calculated for all 552 Brazilian micro-regions. The Spearman's correlation test was used to compare pesticide expenditure and PD HR by sex, age, and urban and non-urban micro-regions. Micro-regions were grouped according to the quintiles of pesticide expenditure. PD HR ratios (HRR) were calculated to compare PD HR across the quintiles of pesticide expenditure. Results Moderate correlation (r=0.518; p&lt;0.001) between PD HR in non-urban micro-regions and pesticide expenditure was observed. In non-urban areas, compared with micro-regions of the first quintile of pesticide use, PD HRR ranged from 1.70 to 5.90 in micro-regions of higher pesticide use. In general, regardless of sex and age, the higher the use of pesticides, the greater the magnitude of PD HRR. Conclusion Our results suggest that pesticide use is associated with PD in Brazil, especially in non-urban areas where pesticides are used more intensively.

Intensive and extensive impacts of EU subsidies on pesticide expenditures at the farm level

ABSTRACT This paper studies the intensive and extensive effects of European subsidies on pesticide expenditures at the farm level. Intensive effects refer to the relative value of pesticide expenditures to sales, while extensive effects consider acreage effects. Our approach is original insofar as we consider the consequences of EU policies at the farm level. The analysis relies on the French Farm Accountancy Data Network database from 2007 to 2015 which provides detailed information on farm structure and accounting. The influence of subsidies on pesticide expenditures is measured through a simultaneous equation model using panel data. Even if the aggregate value of EU subsidies does not seem to influence pesticide expenditures, each of the pillars has for its part a significant influence: the 1st pillar contributes to increasing pesticide expenditures, while the 2nd pillar leads to decreasing pesticide expenditures, except for subsidies to crop insurance policies. Overall subsidies and subsidies from the 1st pillar have also a significant and positive impact on farm acreage. The very contrasting effect of European subsidies on pesticide expenditures thus questions the effectiveness of public policies towards the issue of environmentally friendly practices.

Heterogeneous impacts of information technology adoption on pesticide and fertiliser expenditures: Evidence from wheat farmers in China*

This study examines the impacts of mobile information technology adoption on agrochemical expenditures, using data collected from 551 wheat farmers in China. Unlike previous studies that analyse a homogeneous relationship between the adoption of information technologies and farm input use, in this study, an instrumental variable quantile regression approach is utilised to capture the heterogeneous impacts of smartphone use on pesticide and fertiliser expenditures. Findings reveal that smartphone use affects pesticide and fertiliser expenditures heterogeneously, and its impacts on pesticide expenditure are larger than those on fertiliser expenditure. Specifically, at the lowest 20th quantile, smartphone use significantly increases pesticide expenditure by 33 per cent and fertiliser expenditure by 18 per cent. However, at the higher 60th and 80th quantiles, smartphone use significantly decreases pesticide expenditure by 36–39 per cent and fertiliser expenditure by 14–19 per cent. Our findings suggest that guiding farmers’ agrochemical usage behaviours through smartphone‐based information intervention can be a practical strategy to help reduce the excessive usage of chemical pesticides and fertilisers and preserve the environment and human health.

Does it matter who gives information? The impact of information sources on farmers’ pesticide use in China

The timely delivery of scientific information regarding pesticide use to farmers is essential to address negative externalities. Farmers have four information sources regarding pesticide use in China: public agricultural extension agents (PAEAs), pesticide sellers, peer farmers, and farmers’ own experience. A better understanding of which information source is the most effective in reducing pesticide use would be a principal step toward designing policy strategies for sustainable agricultural production. In this study, we examine the relative effectiveness of each information source on farmers’ pesticide use, based on nationally representative data from 603 rice farmers in seven major rice-producing provinces in China. We adopt a multinomial endogenous switching regression model to correct for selection bias due to observed and unobserved factors. Results show that compared with farmers’ own experience, PAEAs significantly increase farmers’ pesticide expenditure by 8.7 %, while pesticide sellers and peer farmers significantly decrease farmers’ pesticide expenditure by 18.5 % and 10.1 % respectively, with the largest reduction coming from pesticide sellers. Discouraging PAEAs’ commercial activities, working with pesticide sellers, and using peer farmers as social multipliers to disseminate knowledge may be effective ways to develop education programs that aim to reduce pesticide use.

Do Risk Preferences Really Matter? The Case of Pesticide Use in Agriculture

Even if there exists an extensive literature on the modeling of farmers’ behavior under risk, actual measurements of the quantitative impact of risk aversion on input use are rare. In this article, we use simulations to quantify the impact of risk aversion on the optimal quantity of input and farmers’ welfare when production risk depends on how much of the input is used. The assumptions made on the technology and form of farmers’ risk preferences were chosen such that they are fairly representative of crop farming conditions in the USA and Western Europe. In our benchmark scenario featuring a traditional expected utility model, we find that less than 4% of the optimal pesticide expenditure is driven by risk aversion and that risk induces a decrease in welfare that varies from −1.5 to −3.0% for individuals with moderate to normal risk aversion. We find a stronger impact of risk aversion on quantities of input used when farmers’ risk preferences are modeled under the cumulative prospect theory framework. When the reference point is set at the median or maximum profit, and for some levels of the parameters that describe behavior toward losses, the quantity of input used that is driven by risk preferences represents up to 19% of the pesticide expenditure.

Fall armyworm invasion heightens pesticide expenditure among Chinese smallholder farmers

Invasive species are a prominent feature of global change. Aside from their direct impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, invasive crop pests routinely trigger environmentally-disruptive actions e.g., unguided applications of synthetic pesticides. Since 2016, the polyphagous fall armyworm (FAW, Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) has rapidly spread across Africa and Asia, impacting millions of hectares of agricultural crops. Upon its invasion of Yunnan (China) in late 2018, S. frugiperda attained outbreak population levels and inflicted important feeding damage in smallholder-managed maize crops. In this study, we show how local maize growers rely primarily on pesticides for FAW management and employ these products at 3-fold higher application frequencies as compared to 2018. Local reliance upon high-risk compounds (i.e., pyrethroids, organophosphates) decreased over time, with a respective 100% and 62% farmers using these compounds in 2018 versus 27% and 5% in 2020. Conversely, 71% and 95% farmers used new, selective compounds such as emamectin benzoate and chlorfenapyr by 2020. The full cost of pesticide-based crop protection increased from US $81 per hectare and season in 2018 to $276 in 2020. In farmer-managed fields, FAW infestation levels averaged 8.3 larvae per 100 plants and thus remained below economic injury levels (EILs) as established in other countries. Farmers' use of two or more pesticide sprays per season likely was not economically justified. Our work demonstrates how the FAW invasion has altered pest management regimes in Yunnan's maize crop, deepening farmers' pesticide dependency, and potentially exacerbating its burden on household budgets. Sustainable pest management schemes urgently need to be devised for smallholder maize systems in China and across the FAW invaded range.

Trends of chronic kidney disease mortality rates and pesticide expenditure in Brazil from 1996-2015.

Background/Aim: Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to pesticides may be contributing to the burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) epidemic among agricultural communities. We investigated the association of pesticide expenditure with trends in CKD mortality rates in Southern and Southeastern Brazil from 1996-2015. Methods: We calculated CKD mortality rates between 1996-2015 for all Brazilian counties of the Southeast and South regions. We divided the total number of deaths due to CKD (ICD10: N18) by the total resident population between 1996-2015 and multiplied per 100,000. Temporal trend analyses and average annual percentage change (AAPC) were obtained for age (20-39, 40-59, and ≥60), sex, region (South and Southeast), place of residence (urban and rural counties) and tertiles of per capita pesticide expenditure (1996) using the joinpoint regression model. Results: The overall trend of CKD mortality rates maintained constant between 1996-2015 (AAPC: 0.1; 95%CI: -0.9-1.1), while a slight increase in rural (AAPC:1.1; 95%CI: -0.2-2.4) and a decrease in urban (AAPC: -0.8; 95%CI: 1.7-0.0) counties was observed. The increase in rural counties was higher among women (AAPC: 1.9; 95%CI: 1.3-2.5) compared to men ages 60 and older (AAPC: 1.4; 95%CI: 0.8-2.0). Furthermore, the trend in CKD mortality rates increased by tertiles of pesticides expenditure (AAPCT1:0.3; 95%CI: -1.2-1,8, AAPCT2: 1.9; 95%CI: 0.7-3.2 and AAPCT3: 2.8; 95%CI: 0.6-5.0). This trend was similar when limited to the older population (AAPCT1: 1.2; 95%CI: 0.4-1.9; AAPCT2: 1.7; 95%CI: 1.0-2.5 and AAPCT3: 2.2; 95%CI: 1.7-2.7). Sensitivity analysis confirmed a different behavior for diseases unrelated to pesticide exposure. Conclusions: Against a background of rising CKD mortality rates, the overall trend of CKD mortality rates remained constant over the study period in Southern and Southeastern Brazil. However, pesticide expenses and age stratifications suggest that pesticides use may be related to CKD mortality trends.

Risk attitude, risk perception, and farmers’ pesticide application behavior in China: A moderation and mediation model

Understanding farmers’ pesticide application behaviors is essential for environmental sustainability and food safety in China. Based on a nationally representative survey of 603 rice farmers from seven major rice-producing provinces in China, this paper constructs a moderation and mediation model to examine the causal relationship between risk attitudes, risk perceptions, and farmers’ pesticide application behaviors. The results show that risk-averse farmers are more likely to use more pesticides. Farmers’ perceptions of the risks posed by pesticides to profit-maximizing factors, namely food quality and human health, can decrease their pesticide expenditure, while their perceptions of risks to environmental factors, namely soil degradation, water pollution, and air pollution, are not significantly associated with their pesticide expenditure. Moreover, their perceptions of risks to food quality and human health can alleviate the positive effect of risk attitude on pesticide expenditure, and can also play a partial mediating role in the relationship between risk attitude and pesticide expenditure. Risk management tools such as crop insurance, and educational programs to improve farmers’ risk perception, would be beneficial policies to help alleviate farmers’ excessive pesticide use.

Crop insurance and pesticide use in European agriculture

The provision of better risk management tools for farmers and the reduction of adverse effects from pesticide use are both important goals of agricultural policy – but are potentially interrelated and might contradict each other. In this article, we analyze the relation of crop insurance and pesticide use in European agriculture using the examples of France and Switzerland. In our conceptual and empirical framework, we account for the complex structure of insurance uptake, land use and pesticide use decisions of farmers, potentially leading to insurance - pesticide use interactions both at the intensive and extensive margin. Our empirical results indicate a positive and economically significant relation between crop insurance and pesticide use in European agriculture. The findings suggest that without crop insurance, pesticide expenditures would be 6 to 11% lower. However, the importance of extensive and intensive margin relations differs between France and Switzerland and is related to country specific characteristics. We conclude that new risk management instruments should account for potential effects on input use.

Why don't smallholder farmers in Kenya use more biopesticides?

BackgroundAlthough Kenya has a relatively high number of registered biopesticide products, little is known about biopesticide use by smallholders. This paper documents farmers' current use and perception of chemical pesticides and biopesticides, their willingness to pay for biopesticides, and the key challenges to biopesticide uptake.ResultsA survey found that chemical pesticides are used widely by smallholders despite awareness of the risks to human health and the environment. Almost half of respondents showed awareness of biopesticides, but current use in the survey localities was low (10%). Key reasons for the low use of biopesticides by smallholders in this study are: perceptions of effectiveness, primarily speed of action and spectrum of activity, availability and affordability. Smallholders who used biopesticides cited effectiveness, recommendation by advisory services and perception of safety as key reasons for their choice. Although farmers viewed both pesticides and biopesticides as costly, they invested in the former due to their perceived effectiveness. Average willingness to pay, above current chemical pesticide expenditures per cropping season was 9.6% (US$5.7). Willingness to pay differed significantly between counties, and was higher among farmers with more education or greater awareness of the health risks associated with pesticide use.ConclusionThis study confirms the low use of biopesticide products in the survey areas, alongside high use of conventional chemical pesticides. In order to promote greater uptake of biopesticides, addressing farmers' awareness and their perceptions of effectiveness is important, as well as increasing the knowledge of those providing advice and ensuring registered products are available locally at competitive prices. © 2020 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

An Analysis of Climate Impacts on Herbicide, Insecticide, and Fungicide Expenditures

The climate alters pest populations and in turn, pesticide use and cost as well as use of other pest treatments. This paper analyzes the effect of the climate on pesticide expenditures by category, namely: fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides. This is done by econometrically estimating the effects of climate variables such as mean temperature and precipitation as well as the number of hot days, cold days, and wet days on the mean and variance of expenditures by category. The estimates are performed for corn, soybeans, spring and winter wheat, and potatoes. We find that climate factors influence fungicide, herbicide, and insecticide expenditures and that this influence is heterogeneous, varying in nature across crops and pesticide categories. Moreover, we find that climate extremes are more important in determining pesticide expenditures than climate averages in several cases.