ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF PESTICIDE APPLICATION WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO VEGETABLE PRODUCTION

Pesticide was applied to increase the yields of spinach, spring cabbage and autumn cabbage production on a total of 180 farms in 45 different regions throughout South Korea from 1979 to 1997. After increasing pesticide application in spring cabbage production by one percent of cost, the level of income decreased an average of 0.14 percent according to the Cobb-Douglas form of production function analysis.
The marginal value of pesticide is only 0.06 and the additional application of pesticide cost did not increase marginal income at all.
By increasing the application of pesticide by one percent of cost increased income from spinach production by only 0.22 percent while increasing the marginal value of production by only 0.24 percent.

These results show that, at current prices for commercial pesticides and at current market values for product, the increased application of pesticides fails to significantly increase income in either spring cabbage or spinach production; on the contrary, increased pesticide application only incurs unnecessary expense, damages the environment by worsening the quality of drinking water through agricultural runoff, and threatens the health of farmers and consumers in both rural and urban regions through increased exposure to toxic chemicals.

XXV International Horticultural Congress, Part 14: Horticultural Economics at Micro and Macro Level, International Trade and Marketing, International Cooperative Programs, Relations between Research, Development, Extension and Education

J.M. Kim

Pesticide, vegetable production, environmental economic effects

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2000.524.3