Adoption of Pest Management Strategies Under Varying Environmental Conditions

摘要

The report analyzes several policy instruments designed to induce adoption ofchemical-reducing pest management strategies. A model of technology choice is developed that shows how pest losses depend on environmental and resource characteristics as well as on pest management technology used. A comparison of traditional pesticide practices with two types of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies illustrates the importance of technological characteristics in determining relative profits and chemical loadings for each environmental condition. How choice of technology is affected by environmental, technological, and economic conditions is discussed. The effectiveness of policies designed to encourage the use of IPM will depend on the chosen pest management technology.