Sustainable Agriculture Literature Review - Boulder County

! ! !!
"#$%&!'())!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!@+!A142!"#5#81B152!
!
Figure 27: External Costs of Pesticides 549
Comparing the above costs with the impacts of not using pesticides has proven to be
challenging and highly controversial. Analyses typically focus on the loss of output and the
resulting economic impact and are highly variable depending on the crop, soil, and
weather. Concrete data in the literature is therefore limited and quite often dated.
Estimated yield losses due to disuse of insecticides and fungicides range from two to 26
percent (except for peanuts, fruits, and vegetables which tend to be much higher) and
estimated yield losses due to disuse of herbicides vary from zero to 53 percent, all taken
from sources dated between 1985 and 1993 (the years over which the data was
aggregated, however, are unknown). 550
Furthermore, methodologies involved in these analyses have been criticized for
551, 552, 553
exaggerating pesticides’ contribution to productivity through a variety of factors.
These controversies are discussed in length by Cornejo, Jans, and Smith (1998) 554 and
Sexton, Lei, and Zilberman (2007). 555 Despite the lack of agreement, however, Cornejo,
Jans, and Smith (1998) validated the conclusion from a 1976 study that the per unit
production “costs of reducing pesticide use for health and environmental considerations
are relatively high.” However, they noted that because the “value of marginal product of
pesticides is declining” (i.e. the amount of additional pesticides needed to further increase
yields) the per unit production costs from reducing pesticide use may also be declining. 556
Complicating analyses further is the difficulty in determining the induced economic impacts
of reduced output, such as impacts on the livestock industry and employment in the
agricultural sector. This is particularly true when translating output at the state level into
economic impacts on a national scale. 557 While studies examining induced impacts could
not be found, one older figure from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows a
30 percent reduction in agricultural output with elimination of pesticide use. Considering
impacts on the livestock industry, such a reduction in output is expected to yield a loss of
three to four 1998 dollars per dollar spent on pesticides. 558
"$'"
!,342#.5#6/1!78$.%3/23$1!
9.21$#23$1!:1;.1