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.     

Pesticide‐handling practices: the case of coffee growers in Papua New Guinea

Pesticide mismanagement potentially has high risks for farmers, households living in the community and the environment. In Papua New Guinea where farming is the primary occupation, there is evidence of dangerous herbicide application methods being used by coffee growers. Using original survey data for coffee smallholders from four provinces, we assess the factors driving farmers' use of personal protective equipment when preparing and applying herbicides, and farmers' disposal of agro‐chemical containers. We control for households' demographic variables and measure the impact of farmers' training in pest and disease management. We use the special regressor method to estimate binary choice models featuring an endogenous binary regressor (training). Our results show that human capital (education) and training are important drivers of farmers' pesticide‐handling practices, with marginal effects estimated at 10 and 22 per cent, respectively.     

Determinants of Health Costs due to Farmers’ Exposure to Pesticides: An Empirical Analysis

Pesticide spraying by farmers has an adverse impact on their health. However, in studies to date examining farmers’ exposure to pesticides, the costs of ill health and their determinants have been based on information provided by farmers themselves. Some doubt has therefore been cast on the reliability of these estimates. In this study, we address this by conducting surveys among two groups of farmers who use pesticides on a regular basis. The first group is made up of farmers who perceive that their ill health is due to exposure to pesticides and have obtained at least some form of treatment (described in this article as the ‘general farmer group’). The second group is composed of farmers whose ill health has been diagnosed by doctors and who have been treated in hospital for exposure to pesticides (described here as the ‘hospitalised farmer group’). Cost comparisons are made between the two groups of farmers. Regression analysis of the determinants of health costs show that the most important determinants of medical costs for both samples are the defensive expenditure, the quantity of pesticides used per acre per month, frequency of pesticide use and number of pesticides used per hour per day. The results have important policy implications.     

Pesticide use in Vietnamese vegetable production: a 10-year study

Vietnam has had varying success over the past decade with its pesticides policy. Some of the most toxic pesticides have been banned from the market. But while many countries have successfully decreased agricultural pesticide use per hectare, this has not (yet) happened in Vietnam. Due to insufficient pesticide management capacity of the Vietnamese government, pesticide types and quantities registered and distributed on the market have substantially increased in Vietnam over the last 10 years. A 10-year monitoring programme at farm level showed that pesticide use follows the increasing pesticide availability on the market, and many toxic and illegal pesticides are still being used. In an agricultural country dominated by millions of small-scale farmers and with limited state capacity for control at farm level, reduction of the use of the most toxic pesticides can best be achieved by more effective pesticide market control through stricter and more effective state regulations and implementation, aimed at eliminating illegal, low quality and counterfeit pesticides from the market. But even then, better state and private extension services, and greater state capacity for control and enforcement remain essential in enabling farmers to make better decisions about pesticide use.     

A Pinch or a Pint? Evidence of Pesticide Overuse in Bangladesh

In a recent survey of 820 rice, potato, bean, eggplant, cabbage, sugarcane and mango farmers in Bangladesh, over 47% of farmers were found to be overusing pesticides. With only 4% of farmers formally trained in pesticide use or handling, and over 87% openly admitting to using little or no protective measures while applying pesticides, overuse is potentially a great threat to farmer health as well as the environment. Pesticide overuse was initially modelled using a three‐equation, trivariate probit framework with health effects and misperception of pesticide risk as endogenous dummy variables. Significance tests revealed that health and misperception were not endogenous to overuse, suggesting a bivariate probit model for health effects and misperception and a separate probit model for overuse. Health effects were found to be a function of the amount of pesticides used in production, nutritional status and income, while misperception of pesticide risk was determined by health impairments from pesticides and the toxicity of chemicals used. Pesticide overuse was significantly explained by variation in misperception, income, farm ownership, the toxicity of chemicals used, crop composition and geographical location. These results highlight the necessity for policymakers to design effective and targeted outreach programmes which deal specifically with pesticide risk, safe handling and averting behaviour. Ideally, the approach would be participatory in nature to address key informational gaps, as well as increasing: farmers’ awareness. The results also point to specific crops and locations experiencing a higher prevalence of overuse. Focusing efforts on these crops and geographical areas may have the most measurable effects on pesticide overuse.     

Do Farmers Internalise Environmental Spillovers of Pesticides in Production?

Pesticides are used in agriculture to protect crops from pests and diseases, with indiscriminate pesticide use having several adverse effects on the environment and human health. An important question is whether the environmental spillovers of pesticides also affect the farmers’ production environment. We use a model of optimal pesticide use that explicitly incorporates the symmetric and asymmetric effect of pesticides’ environmental spillovers on crop production. The application focuses on panel data from Dutch cash crop producers. We show that pesticides have a positive direct impact on output and a negative indirect impact through their effects on the production environment.     

EU Food Safety Standards,Pesticide Use and Farm‐level Productivity: The Case of High‐value Crops in Kenya

This article provides an empirical analysis of the impact of European Union (EU) private food safety standards on pesticide use and farm‐level productivity among small‐scale vegetable producers in Kenya. We apply an extended three‐stage damage control production framework, accounting for multiple endogeneity problems, to farm‐level data collected from a random cross‐sectional sample of 539 small‐scale producers. Estimation results show that farmers producing vegetables for the domestic market use significantly lower quantities of pesticides than do export farmers. However, contrary to findings elsewhere, the econometric evidence here shows that both domestic and export‐oriented vegetable farmers in Kenya use pesticides at levels below the economic optimum. The results also show that the adoption of standards by export farmers does not have any significant impact on total pesticide use. However, adopter categories are distinguishable in terms of types of pesticide used, i.e. adopters use safer pesticides based on World Health Organization (WHO) classification. The third‐stage structural revenue model results demonstrate that adoption of standards has a positive and significant impact on revenue raised in vegetable production. Nevertheless, farmers producing for the export market are indistinguishable from those producing for the domestic farmers in terms of the total revenue earned from producing vegetables during the rainy season, on a ‘per acre’ basis. Although standards can potentially prevent resource‐poor smallholders from maintaining their position in the lucrative export markets, they can also result in positive changes in the production systems of those small‐scale farmers who adopt it, as shown by these results.     

基于SWOT分析的寿光市设施蔬菜减施农药对策研究

[目的]农药作为蔬菜生产中主要的投入品,在杀虫灭菌、控草护田、生长调节等方面发挥着重要作用,对于保障蔬菜供给意义重大。但是在设施蔬菜种植过程中,由于不合理、过量施用农药导致出现部分蔬菜产品农残超标、农药污染农田生态环境等问题,推进农药减施刻不容缓。[方法]文章运用SWOT分析方法研究寿光市设施蔬菜种植中减施农药的内外部条件,根据有利因素和不利因素调整发展思路,改善农药的不合理使用现状。[结果]通过分析发现,寿光市设施蔬菜种植中减施农药的优势是资源条件好、农户蔬菜种植经验丰富、安全用药意识高;劣势是病虫害抗药性渐强、农户传统的用药习惯根深蒂固且减施农药意愿低;机遇是消费者的需求升级、科学技术水平提高以及相关减施政策实施;挑战是当前市场竞争激烈且政府监管欠佳。[结论]推进设施蔬菜农药减施应采取以下对策:(1)统防统治与绿色防控技术并举,保障蔬菜的质量安全和生物多样性的发展;(2)提升意识与科学用药并重,促进当地蔬菜生产稳定发展;(3)政府监管与信息共享统筹,规范农资市场和农产品市场的交易行为;(4)农业保险与农业补贴兼顾,建立起适度超前、开放灵活政策保障体系。     

Are pesticides risk decreasing? The relevance of pesticide indicator choice in empirical analysis

The reduction of adverse health and environmental effects from pesticide use is currently a top priority on the agricultural policy agenda. Efficient pesticide policies must take into account farmers’ application behavior, especially effects of pesticide use on economic risk. However, previous results regarding the direction of risk effects of pesticides are ambiguous. We show that the ambiguity in earlier studies could be due to the pesticide indicator selected. Indicators which fail to account for the heterogeneous properties of pesticides may be inapt for interpreting farmers’ pesticide use decisions. Our analysis, based on a rich panel dataset of Swiss wheat producers with highly detailed information on pesticide use, considers different pesticide indicators and multiple sources of uncertainty. Our key finding is that indicator choice affects the magnitude and sign of estimated risk effects. Estimates of pesticide productivity and risk effects are significantly higher for fungicides, and even reversed for herbicides when we measure pesticide use in simple quantity units (kilogram per hectare) - compared to the quality and intensity corrected Load Index. This means for example, that farmers will ceteris paribus use lower quantities of herbicides, but will increase the overall toxicity of the products applied with increasing risk aversion. We discuss implications of our findings for the design of pesticide policies and agricultural risk management instruments.     

Can economic incentives encourage actual reductions in pesticide use and environmental spillovers?

Chemical pesticides constitute an important input in crop production. But their indiscriminate use can impact negatively agricultural productivity, human health, and the environment. Recently, attention is focused on the use of economic incentives to reduce pesticide use and its related indirect effects. The aim of this work is to assess the effectiveness of different economic instruments such as taxes and levies in encouraging farmers to decrease pesticide use and their environmental spillovers. A policy simulation model is employed using data from Dutch cash crop producers including two pesticide categories that differ in terms of toxicity and pesticides’ environmental spillovers. Four different instruments were selected for evaluation: pesticide taxes, price penalties on pesticides’ environmental spillovers, subsidies, and quotas. The results of the study indicate that even high taxes and penalties would result in a small decrease in pesticide use and environmental spillovers. Taxes that differentiate according to toxicity do not lead to substitution of high‐ with low‐toxicity pesticides. Subsidies on low‐toxicity products are not able to affect the use of high‐toxicity products. Pesticide quotas are more effective in reducing pesticide use and environmental spillovers.     

Farmers’ risk preferences and pesticide use decisions: evidence from field experiments in China

China faces health and environmental problems associated with the use of agricultural chemicals, including pesticides. While previous studies have found that risk aversion affects pesticide use in China, they have focused primarily on commercial cotton farmers. In this study, we consider the case of smaller, semisubsistence and subsistence farmers in a poor and landlocked province of China (Yunnan). We use a field experiment to measure risk aversion and collect detailed data on farm production and input use to specifically ask whether risk aversion affects pesticide use, and whether this effect differs for subsistence farmers producing exclusively for home consumption versus semisubsistence farmers who produce both for home and the market. We find that risk aversion significantly increases pesticide use, particularly for subsistence farmers and for market plots by semisubsistence farmers. Further, this effect of risk aversion significantly decreases with farm size for subsistence farmers, but not for semisubsistence farmers, implying that pesticide use may be used to ensure sufficient food supply for home consumption. Finally, we find barriers to the use of pesticides for subsistence farmers, both in terms of financial constraints and economies of scale. This finding implies that risk‐mitigation strategies, such as crop insurance, may not target food security concerns of subsistence farmers. Given these different motivations for pesticide use, policymakers may wish to consider effective tools to support rural food security for farmers in the poorer regions of China in order to decrease pesticide use.     

影响林农木本食品安全生产因素研究

根据农户行为理论分析结果,运用Tobit模型对浙江省杭州市临安区的119户山核桃种植户安全生产行为的影响因素进行实证分析。研究结果表明:性别、年龄、受教育程度、户主对农药危害认知以及是否参加合作社对林农进行山核桃安全生产具有显著的负向影响;经营地产量、户主化肥使用标准以及种植户所在地区对林农进行山核桃安全生产具有显著的正向影响。因此,为了规范木本食品安全生产,从林农角度而言,应加强学习相关种植知识并提升个人素质;从政府和山核桃种植协会而言,应加强对林农进行安全用药知识宣传并组织技术培训,此外还应推进山核桃种合作社建立。     

How crop insurance influences agrochemical input use: Evidence from cotton farmers in China

Crop insurance is critical in risk management in global agricultural production (e.g. by helping stabilise farmers' incomes in the long term and reducing risk-bearing costs). In this paper, using field survey data on cotton farmers in Xinjiang, China, we examine the influence of crop insurance on farmers' behaviours regarding agrochemical inputs and aim to investigate the synergy between crop insurance and reductions in fertiliser and pesticide usage. We find evidence that crop insurance significantly negatively affects farmers' use of fertilisers and pesticides, as well as significantly positively affects their adoption of green agricultural technologies (GAT) that can replace or complement traditional fertilisers and pesticides. Moreover, our results reveal that compared with small-scale farmers, crop insurance has a stronger effect on large-scale farmers' use of agrochemicals. Finally, when the insured amount is higher or the relative deductible is lower, farmers are more likely to reduce fertiliser and pesticide usage and adopt GAT. Overall, this paper scientifically identifies crop insurance can improve farmers' agrochemical input behaviour, by reducing farmers' use of traditional agrochemical inputs and increasing their adoption of GAT, which is of great significance for ensuring the safety of the agricultural ecological environment.     

Environmental and health impacts of poultry manure disposal methods: a case study of Lagelu and Egbeda local government areas in Oyo State,Nigeria

Indiscriminate disposal of poultry manure has been identified as a major source of environmental degradation in production areas through air and water pollution associated with nitrogen and phosphorus emissions and losses from manure. Methods of disposing of poultry manure which might have negative consequences on the environment and the farmers were investigated in two Local Government Areas of Oyo State, Nigeria. Data collected using structured questionnaires as well as direct field observations from a random sample of 100 farming households showed that the commonly used methods of manure disposal are burning (87 households) and application on crops (9 households). Almost all of the farmers (99) had no proper manure management facilities. Ammonia is the major air pollutant perceived by 71 farmers in the study area. Farmers suffered from discomforts ranging from various combinations of sneezing (65%), eye irritation (38%), coughing (34%), headache (20%), stomach ache (13%) and diarrhoea (6%). The awareness of farmers and authorities needs to be raised regarding the management of poultry manure and the need for protective equipment during its disposal: 99 farmers had no formal training in safe handling and disposal of poultry manure. There should be stricter enforcement of existing environmental regulations and enactment of new legislation to minimize the threats that the farmers’ current practices pose to their health and to the environment.     

Ecosystem impacts of pesticide reductions through Bt cotton adoption

This article examines the ecosystem impacts of transgenic Bt cotton technology resulting from reduced chemical pesticide use. Employing unique panel data from smallholder farmers in India, negative environmental and health effects of pesticide use are quantified with the environmental impact quotient (EIQ), with and without Bt technology. An environmentally sensitive dynamic production function is estimated, treating the environmental risk of pesticide toxicity as an undesirable output in the production process. Negative externalities are significantly lower in Bt than in conventional cotton. The reduction in EIQ through Bt technology adoption has increased from 39 per cent during 2002–2004 to 68 per cent during 2006–2008. Bt adoption has also contributed to higher environmental efficiency. Environmental efficiency is influenced by the quality of Bt technology: high‐quality Bt seeds are associated with higher environmental efficiency than lower‐quality seeds.     

Neighbourhood Effects in Pesticide Use: Evidence from the Rural Philippines

This study investigates how pesticide use by neighbouring farmers affects a given farmer's pesticide use. Although it is common knowledge that pesticide use has spatial externalities, few empirical economic studies explicitly analyse this issue. Applying a spatial panel econometric model to plot‐level panel data for Bohol, Philippines, this study shows that pesticide use, especially for herbicides, is spatially correlated, although there is no statistically significant spatial correlation in unobserved shocks. This implies that farmers apply pesticides by referring to the behaviour of neighbouring farmers rather than responding directly to the intensity of their own infestation.     

Towards sustainable vegetable growing with farmer learning videos in Benin

Vegetable production plays an important role in nutrition, food security and poverty reduction in Benin. However, vegetable production is hampered by pests and farmers rely on pesticides to control them. Improving farmers’ knowledge is important for the use of sustainable, intensive agricultural practices. This paper assesses the role of learning video in changing vegetable farmers’ behaviour towards sustainable agriculture. Drawing mainly on mass distribution of learning videos, DVDs entitled ‘Improving vegetable production’ were sold through non-conventional dissemination networks from August to December 2015, to strengthen farmers’ learning. In June 2016, we interviewed a sample of 120 buyers/viewers in four different areas where the DVDs were sold. The interviews were followed by a field visit to collect evidence of the change of practices reported during the interviews. Farmers who watched the videos enhanced their creativity and adapted the learning to their environment by using more sustainable agriculture practices. About 86% of respondents indicated that they now spend less money for pesticides to manage pests and diseases. Video-mediated learning promotes local innovation, improves farmers’ knowledge and triggers agro-ecological practices with little or no input from the conventional extension system.     

Pesticide Productivity and Transgenic Cotton Technology: The South African Smallholder Case

This paper empirically investigates how the productivity of pesticide differs in Bt versus non‐Bt technology for South African cotton smallholders, and what the implications for pesticide use levels are in the two technologies. This is accomplished by applying a damage control framework to farm‐level data from Makhathini flats, KwaZulu‐Natal. Contrary to findings elsewhere, notably China, that farmers over‐use pesticides and that transgenic technology benefits farmers by enabling large reductions in pesticide use, the econometric evidence here indicates that non‐Bt smallholders in South Africa under‐use pesticide. Thus, the main potential contribution of the new technology is to enable them to realise lost productivity resulting from under‐use. By providing a natural substitute for pesticide, the Bt technology enables the smallholders to circumvent credit and labour constraints associated with pesticide application. Thus, the same technology that greatly reduces pesticide applications but only mildly affects yields, when used by large‐scale farmers in China and elsewhere, benefits South‐African smallholder farmers primarily via a yield‐enhancing effect.     

The impact of climate change on the external cost of pesticide applications in US agriculture

Agricultural pesticides have adverse impacts on the environment and human health. These impacts are sensitive to climate change because pest pressure and optimal pesticide application rates vary with weather and climate conditions. This study uses the Pesticide Environmental Accounting (PEA) tool and statistically estimated relationships between pesticide applications, weather and climate to compute the impacts of climate change on the external cost of pesticide applications. Using data from 32 US states, 56 crops and 325 pesticides, the current average external cost of pesticide use in US agriculture is calculated at US$42 per hectare. Under projected climate change this value increases up to $72 per hectare by 2100.     

Cotton farmers’ willingness to pay for pest management services in northern Benin

This study was carried out to assess cotton farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for pest management services in northern Benin. Targeted staggered control (TSC) has been introduced to reduce pesticide use in cotton cropping and generate an estimated benefit of FCFA48,800 (€74.40) per cotton hectare accruing from increased productivity and reduced pesticide cost. However, TSC application requires extra time for pest identification and scouting, and its adoption remains low due to the lack of funding to boost farmers’ awareness and cover training costs. An interval regression model was used to analyze responses to a double‐bounded contingent valuation survey with data collected from 300 cotton farmers. The results showed that 87.3% of cotton farmers were willing to pay for TSC services. Annual WTP per cotton hectare was estimated at FCFA16,962 (€25.80), revealing an existing demand for TSC adoption. Respondents' WTP was driven by farm and socio‐economic characteristics. Financial mechanisms managed by farmers could thus potentially foster technology adoption, and in turn, generate economic and environmental benefits.