IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/aaea13/149610.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

When Ignorance Is Not Bliss: Pest Control Decisions Involving Beneficial Insects

Author

Listed:
  • Grogan, Kelly A.

Abstract

Recent survey data revealed that many California citrus growers did not know whether or not important beneficial insects were found on their fields while other growers were relying heavily or even entirely on these insects for pest control. Some pesticides are toxic both to the targeted pest and the predaceous or parasitic insect that could provide pest control. Alternative pesticides with fewer or no negative effects on the beneficial insect often exist but can be more expensive. Additionally, some beneficial insects are commercially available and can be purchased and released in the field. This paper models the pest control decisions of a grower who optimally utilizes a pesticide and a predaceous insect to control the crop pest and compares these decisions to that of a grower who does not know that the predaceous insect exists. The results show that the latter grower will drive the predator population to zero and will overutilize chemical control. The optimal decisions involve entirely mitigating the negative effects of the pesticide as well as releasing additional predators.

Suggested Citation

  • Grogan, Kelly A., 2013. "When Ignorance Is Not Bliss: Pest Control Decisions Involving Beneficial Insects," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 149610, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea13:149610
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.149610
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/149610/files/AAEA13%20PredatorsMerged.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.149610?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Harper, Carolyn R., 1990. "Predator-Prey Systems In Pest Management," Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 20(1), pages 1-9, April.
    2. Cheryl Brown & Lori Lynch & David Zilberman, 2002. "The Economics of Controlling Insect-Transmitted Plant Diseases," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 84(2), pages 279-291.
    3. Thomas L. Marsh & Ray G. Huffaker & Garrell E. Long, 2000. "Optimal Control of Vector-Virus-Plant Interactions: The Case of Potato Leafroll Virus Net Necrosis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 82(3), pages 556-569.
    4. Regev, Uri & Shalit, Haim & Gutierrez, A. P., 1983. "On the optimal allocation of pesticides with increasing resistance: The case of alfalfa weevil," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 86-100, March.
    5. Sara K. Schumacher & Thomas L. Marsh & Kimberly A. Williams, 2006. "Optimal pest control in greenhouse production of ornamental crops," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 34(1), pages 39-50, January.
    6. repec:ags:jrapmc:122310 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Ceddia, M.G. & Heikkil, J. & Peltola, J., 2009. "Managing invasive alien species with professional and hobby farmers: Insights from ecological-economic modelling," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1366-1374, March.
    8. Feder, G. & Regev, U., 1975. "Biological interactions and environmental effects in the economics of pest control," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 75-91, December.
    9. Plant, Richard E. & Mangel, Marc & Flynn, Lawrence E., 1985. "Multiseasonal management of an agricultural pest II: the economic optimization problem," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 45-61, March.
    10. Grogan, Kelly A. & Goodhue, Rachael E., 2012. "Spatial Externalities of Pest Control Decisions in the California Citrus Industry," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 37(1), pages 1-24, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Grogan, Kelly A., 2014. "When ignorance is not bliss: Pest control decisions involving beneficial insects," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 104-113.
    2. Grogan, Kelly A. & Chakravarty, Shourish, 2017. "The Feasibility of Area-wide Pest Management under Heterogeneity and Uncertainty: The Case of Citrus Health Management Areas," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 259188, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Mitchell, Paul D., 2001. "Additive Versus Proportional Pest Damage Functions: Why Ecology Matters," 2001 Annual meeting, August 5-8, Chicago, IL 20775, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    4. Cobourn, Kelly M. & Burrack, Hannah J. & Goodhue, Rachael E. & Williams, Jeffrey C. & Zalom, Frank G., 2011. "Implications of simultaneity in a physical damage function," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 278-289, September.
    5. Marsh, Thomas L. & Huffaker, Ray G. & Folwell, Raymond J. & Long, Gary, 1998. "An Intraseasonal Bioeconomic Model Of Plrv Net Necrosis," 1998 Annual meeting, August 2-5, Salt Lake City, UT 20935, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    6. Carter, Colin A. & Chalfant, James A. & Goodhue, Rachael E., 2004. "Invasive Species In Agriculture: A Rising Concern," Western Economics Forum, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 3(2), pages 1-6, December.
    7. Cobourn, Kelly M. & Goodhue, Rachael E. & Williams, Jeffrey C., 2009. "The Role of Harvest Timing in Pest Management: Grower Response to Infestation by the California Olive Fruit Fly," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49475, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. Desquilbet, Marion & Hermann, Markus, 2012. "An assessment of bioeconomic modeling of pest resistance with new insights into dynamic refuge fields," TSE Working Papers 12-263, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    9. Gu, Xi & Marsh, Thomas L., 2017. "Pesticide Substitution Under Maximum Residue Limits: Application to Hops Production," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258572, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Schumacher, Sara K. & Marsh, Thomas L. & Williams, Kimberly A., 2003. "Optimal Pest Control In Floriculture Production Of Ornamental Crops," 2003 Annual Meeting, February 1-5, 2003, Mobile, Alabama 35025, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    11. Theodoros Skevas & Spiro E. Stefanou & Alfons Oude Lansink, 2013. "Do Farmers Internalise Environmental Spillovers of Pesticides in Production?," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(3), pages 624-640, September.
    12. Schumacher, Sara K. & Marsh, Thomas L. & Williams, Kimberly A., 2000. "Economic Thresholds: An Application To Floriculture," 2000 Annual meeting, July 30-August 2, Tampa, FL 21790, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    13. Richard Cornes & Ngo Van Long & Koji Shimomura, 2000. "Strategic Behavior under Intertemporal Production Externalities," CIRANO Working Papers 2000s-07, CIRANO.
    14. Fuller, Kate B. & Alston, Julian M. & Sanchirico, James N., 2011. "Spatial Externalities and Vector-Borne Plant Diseases: Pierce’s Disease and the Blue-Green Sharpshooter in the Napa Valley," 2011 Annual Meeting, July 24-26, 2011, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 103865, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Ceddia, M.G. & Heikkil, J. & Peltola, J., 2009. "Managing invasive alien species with professional and hobby farmers: Insights from ecological-economic modelling," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1366-1374, March.
    16. Regmi, Anita, 1990. "The value of information in integrated pest management of corn rootworm and European corn borer in Minnesota," Faculty and Alumni Dissertations 307267, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    17. Melstrom, Richard T., 2014. "Managing apparent competition between the feral pigs and native foxes of Santa Cruz Island," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 157-162.
    18. Livingston, Michael J. & Carlson, Gerald A. & Fackler, Paul L., 2000. "Bt Cotton Refuge Policy," 2000 Annual meeting, July 30-August 2, Tampa, FL 21850, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    19. Charles Sims & David Finnoff & Jason F. Shogren, 2018. "Taking One for the Team: Is Collective Action More Responsive to Ecological Change?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 70(3), pages 589-615, July.
    20. Florec, Veronique & Sadler, Rohan J. & White, Ben & Dominiak, Bernie C., 2013. "Choosing the battles: The economics of area wide pest management for Queensland fruit fly," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 203-213.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agricultural and Food Policy; Production Economics; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ags:aaea13:149610. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaeaaea.html .

    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.