IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v198y2022ics0921800922001252.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The adoption of pesticide-free wheat production and farmers' perceptions of its environmental and health effects

Author

Listed:
  • Finger, Robert
  • Möhring, Niklas

Abstract

The reduction of pesticide use is a prime issue on policy agendas worldwide. However, existing policies often fail to promote widespread adoption of low-pesticide or no-pesticide production practices. Therefore, in order to overcome this obstacle, it is important to understand why farmers hesitate to use more sustainable pest management. To this end, we investigate the relationship between farmers' perception of the adverse environmental and human health effects generated by pesticides and their decision to participate in a novel, pesticide-free wheat production standard in Switzerland. Survey data from 1073 wheat producers reveals that 14% are early adopters of the pesticide-free wheat production program and a further 44% intend to switch to this production scheme in following growing seasons. We find that farmers who perceive risks of pesticides for the environment and human health to be higher are also more likely to adopt pesticide-free production. Our results suggest that a large-scale adoption of pesticide-free production requires a broad set of (policy) instruments beyond purely financial incentives. Our findings thus have important implications for the design of sustainable production schemes.

Suggested Citation

  • Finger, Robert & Möhring, Niklas, 2022. "The adoption of pesticide-free wheat production and farmers' perceptions of its environmental and health effects," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:198:y:2022:i:c:s0921800922001252
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107463
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800922001252
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107463?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sophie Thoyer & Raphaële Préget, 2019. "Enriching the CAP evaluation toolbox with experimental approaches: introduction to the special issue," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 46(3), pages 347-366.
    2. Konstantinos Chatzimichael & Margarita Genius & Vangelis Tzouvelekas, 2022. "Pesticide use, health impairments and economic losses under rational farmers behavior," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(2), pages 765-790, March.
    3. Huber, Robert & Bakker, Martha & Balmann, Alfons & Berger, Thomas & Bithell, Mike & Brown, Calum & Grêt-Regamey, Adrienne & Xiong, Hang & Le, Quang Bao & Mack, Gabriele & Meyfroidt, Patrick & Millingt, 2018. "Representation of decision-making in European agricultural agent-based models," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 143-160.
    4. Matthias Buchholz & Oliver Musshoff, 2021. "Tax or green nudge? An experimental analysis of pesticide policies in Germany [A psychological study of the inverse relationship between perceived risk and perceived benefit]," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 48(4), pages 940-982.
    5. Böcker, Thomas & Möhring, Niklas & Finger, Robert, 2019. "Herbicide free agriculture? A bio-economic modelling application to Swiss wheat production," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 378-392.
    6. Emily Oster, 2019. "Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 187-204, April.
    7. Möhring, Niklas & Finger, Robert, 2022. "Pesticide-free but not organic: Adoption of a large-scale wheat production standard in Switzerland," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    8. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    9. Wuepper, David & Roleff, Nikolaus & Finger, Robert, 2021. "Does it matter who advises farmers? Pest management choices with public and private extension," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    10. Mónica M. Jaime & Jessica Coria & Xiangping Liu, 2016. "Interactions between CAP Agricultural and Agri-Environmental Subsidies and Their Effects on the Uptake of Organic Farming," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 98(4), pages 1114-1145.
    11. Schlüter, Maja & Baeza, Andres & Dressler, Gunnar & Frank, Karin & Groeneveld, Jürgen & Jager, Wander & Janssen, Marco A. & McAllister, Ryan R.J. & Müller, Birgit & Orach, Kirill & Schwarz, Nina & Wij, 2017. "A framework for mapping and comparing behavioural theories in models of social-ecological systems," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 21-35.
    12. Eva-Marie Meemken & Matin Qaim, 2018. "Organic Agriculture, Food Security, and the Environment," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 10(1), pages 39-63, October.
    13. Ladina Knapp & David Wuepper & Robert Finger, 2021. "Preferences, personality, aspirations, and farmer behavior," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(6), pages 901-913, November.
    14. MacKinnon, James G. & White, Halbert, 1985. "Some heteroskedasticity-consistent covariance matrix estimators with improved finite sample properties," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 305-325, September.
    15. Knowler, Duncan & Bradshaw, Ben, 2007. "Farmers' adoption of conservation agriculture: A review and synthesis of recent research," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 25-48, February.
    16. Bakker, L. & Sok, J. & van der Werf, W. & Bianchi, F.J.J.A., 2021. "Kicking the Habit: What Makes and Breaks Farmers' Intentions to Reduce Pesticide Use?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    17. François J Dessart & Jesús Barreiro-Hurlé & René van Bavel, 2019. "Behavioural factors affecting the adoption of sustainable farming practices: a policy-oriented review," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 46(3), pages 417-471.
    18. Finger, Robert & Möhring, Niklas & Dalhaus, Tobias & Böcker, Thomas, 2017. "Revisiting Pesticide Taxation Schemes," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 263-266.
    19. Namatié Traoré & Réjean Landry & Nabil Amara, 1998. "On-Farm Adoption of Conservation Practices: The Role of Farm and Farmer Characteristics, Perceptions, and Health Hazards," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 74(1), pages 114-127.
    20. Sexton, Steven E. & Lei, Zhen & Zilberman, David, 2007. "The Economics of Pesticides and Pest Control," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 1(3), pages 271-326, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Finger, Robert, 2024. "On the definition of pesticide-free crop production systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    2. Katsuhito Nohara, 2024. "Willingness to pay for pesticide-free vegetables in Hokkaido, Japan: the relationship between appearance and pesticide use," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Guoqun Ma & Minjuan Li & Yuxi Luo & Tuanbiao Jiang, 2023. "Agri-Ecological Policy, Human Capital and Agricultural Green Technology Progress," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-14, April.
    4. Emileva, Begaiym & Kuhn, Lena & Bobojonov, Ihtiyor & Glauben, Thomas, 2023. "The role of smartphone-based weather information acquisition on climate change perception accuracy: Cross-country evidence from Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Uzbekistan," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 41, pages 1-1.
    5. Fouillet, Esther & Delière, Laurent & Flori, Albert & Rapidel, Bruno & Merot, Anne, 2023. "Diversity of pesticide use trajectories during agroecological transitions in vineyards: The case of the French DEPHY network," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    6. Yanbing Wang & Niklas Möhring & Robert Finger, 2023. "When my neighbors matter: Spillover effects in the adoption of large‐scale pesticide‐free wheat production," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(2), pages 256-273, March.
    7. Lee, Seungki & Moschini, GianCarlo & Perry, Edward D., 2023. "Genetically engineered varieties and applied pesticide toxicity in U.S. maize and soybeans: Heterogeneous and evolving impacts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    8. Daniel Freund & Samuel B. Hopkins, 2023. "Towards Practical Robustness Auditing for Linear Regression," Papers 2307.16315, arXiv.org.
    9. Mack, G. & Finger, R. & Ammann, J. & El Benni, N., 2023. "Modelling policies towards pesticide-free agricultural production systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yanbing Wang & Niklas Möhring & Robert Finger, 2023. "When my neighbors matter: Spillover effects in the adoption of large‐scale pesticide‐free wheat production," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(2), pages 256-273, March.
    2. Möhring, Niklas & Finger, Robert, 2022. "Pesticide-free but not organic: Adoption of a large-scale wheat production standard in Switzerland," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    3. Robert Huber & Hang Xiong & Kevin Keller & Robert Finger, 2022. "Bridging behavioural factors and standard bio‐economic modelling in an agent‐based modelling framework," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(1), pages 35-63, February.
    4. Sergei Schaub & Jaboury Ghazoul & Robert Huber & Wei Zhang & Adelaide Sander & Charles Rees & Simanti Banerjee & Robert Finger, 2023. "The role of behavioural factors and opportunity costs in farmers' participation in voluntary agri‐environmental schemes: A systematic review," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(3), pages 617-660, September.
    5. Mack, G. & Finger, R. & Ammann, J. & El Benni, N., 2023. "Modelling policies towards pesticide-free agricultural production systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    6. Robert Finger, 2023. "Digital innovations for sustainable and resilient agricultural systems," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 50(4), pages 1277-1309.
    7. Wuepper, David & Roleff, Nikolaus & Finger, Robert, 2021. "Does it matter who advises farmers? Pest management choices with public and private extension," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    8. Aïhounton, Ghislain B.D. & Henningsen, Arne, 2024. "Does organic farming jeopardize food security of farm households in Benin?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    9. Traxler, Emilia & Li, Tongzhe, 2020. "Agricultural Best Management Practices, A summary of adoption behaviour," Working Papers 305271, University of Guelph, Institute for the Advanced Study of Food and Agricultural Policy.
    10. Drechsler, Martin & Wätzold, Frank & Grimm, Volker, 2022. "The hitchhiker's guide to generic ecological-economic modelling of land-use-based biodiversity conservation policies," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 465(C).
    11. Philippos Karipidis & Sotiria Karypidou, 2021. "Factors that Impact Farmers’ Organic Conversion Decisions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-24, April.
    12. Kreft, Cordelia & Huber, Robert & Wuepper, David & Finger, Robert, 2021. "The role of non-cognitive skills in farmers' adoption of climate change mitigation measures," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    13. Ghislain B. D. Aïhounton & Arne Henningsen & Neda Trifkovic, 2021. "Pesticide Handling and Human Health: Conventional and Organic Cotton Farming in Benin," IFRO Working Paper 2021/06, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    14. Tensi, Annika Francesca & Ang, Frederic & van der Fels-Klerx, H.J., 2022. "Behavioural drivers and barriers for adopting microbial applications in arable farms: Evidence from the Netherlands and Germany," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    15. Ghislain B. D. Aihounton & Arne Henningsen, 2023. "Does Organic Farming Jeopardize Food and Nutrition Security?," IFRO Working Paper 2023/02, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    16. Huber, Robert & Späti, Karin & Finger, Robert, 2023. "A behavioural agent-based modelling approach for the ex-ante assessment of policies supporting precision agriculture," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    17. Drechsler, Martin, 2021. "Impacts of human behaviour in agri-environmental policies: How adequate is homo oeconomicus in the design of market-based conservation instruments?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    18. Massfeller, Anna & Storm, Hugo, 2022. "Socio-spatial information sources influencing farmers’ decision to use mechanical weeding in sugar beets," 96th Annual Conference, April 4-6, 2022, K U Leuven, Belgium 321154, Agricultural Economics Society - AES.
    19. Sansone, Dario, 2019. "Pink work: Same-sex marriage, employment and discrimination," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    20. Meike Weltin & Silke Hüttel, 2023. "Sustainable Intensification Farming as an Enabler for Farm Eco-Efficiency?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(1), pages 315-342, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:198:y:2022:i:c:s0921800922001252. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.