Determinants and Overuse of Pesticides in Grain Production: A Comparison of Rice, Maize and Wheat in China

Despite the contribution of pesticide use to agricultural production, the negative externalities due to pesticide overuse increasingly concern the public. As the largest pesticide user, China aims to reduce its pesticide use in agriculture. However, the empirical analysis on the driving forces of pesticide use and to what extent pesticides are overused across different crops is far from enough. This paper aims to investigate the determinants and overuse of pesticides in grain production in China using provincial data. The results suggest that the prices of pesticides and grain products show a negative and positive relationship with pesticide use, respectively. The public agricultural extension system reform induces an increase in pesticide use. The estimation of a damage-control production function illustrates that pesticides significantly increase grain productivity but are commonly overused in grain production. It implies that the government's policy options with regard to the prices of pesticides and grain products as well as reform of agricultural extension system have played a crucial role in forming pesticide overuse in grain production in China. Acknowledgement : This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 71333006], the Ministry of Science and Technology of China [grant number 2016YFD0201301] and the Beijing Institute of Technology [grant number 20172242001].