Environmental pollution from pest control integrated pest management and pesticide regulation policies
Babu, S.C.; Hallam, A.
Journal of Environmental Management 29(4): 377-390
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0301-4797 Document Number: 336573
Banning of certain types of pesticides has recently been suggested as a possible solution to reduce the problems associated with chemical control of agricultural pests, namely health hazards, environmental pollution, resurgence of pests and development of their resistance to chemical control. However, restricting the use of pesticides may result in lower yields and reduced farm income. Integrated pest management has been proven to be a technically efficient alternative to chemical control of pests. Since integrated pest management has few market incentives tot the private farmers, its adoption has not been successful. COnsidering pest control as a societal prblem has been suggested as a possibility to increase the efficiency of integrated pest management, thereby reducing the environmental pollution of pesticides. A general, multi-seasonal model of dynamically optimal, social pest control is developed in this paper, considering the cost to future generations of polluting the environment by using chemical pest control today. Use of a honey production subsystem as a damage cost function to the environment in the model enables it to capture and value the negative externality due to chemical pest control. Social and private pest control decisions are compared through model results. Economic thresholds of pests and environmental pollution are shown to be related to the social discount rate. Integrated pest management is treated as technological change and conditions for optimal switching from chemical pest control are derived. Results of the model show that the absence of market incentives for environmental protection seems to be the main reason for the socially excessive use of pesticides. Social pest control decisions would be more ecologically efficient than private decisions under the same discount rates and planning horizons. Social pest management also seems to be a plausible alternative in easing the burden of the pesticide regulation policies. Implications of pesticide regulation policies in terms of acheiving contradicting goals of reduced environmental pollution and increased income of the farmers are discussed in the context of the model.