Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 44-56 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 6 Jun 2011 |
Abstract
China was the first developing country to introduce Bt cotton on a large scale. This paper provides an indepth economic analysis of Bt cotton production by small-scale farmers in China. Data were collected in 2002 in Linqing County, in Shandong Province and comprised a season-long cotton production monitoring with 150 farmers and complementary household interviews. For quality assessment, the Bt toxin concentration of the various Bt varieties used by the farmers was determined for each plot. All farmers were growing insect resistant Bt cotton varieties. Yet, they sprayed high amounts of chemical insecticides, out of which 40% were extremely or highly hazardous. The paper reviews methodological issues inherent to impact assessment of crop biotechnology and identifies market and institutional failure as possible reasons for continued high pesticide use. Using the damage function methodology the coefficients for both damage control inputs, i.e., Bt varieties (measured as toxin concentration), and insecticide quantity were not significantly different from zero. Results show that absence of enabling institutions and lack of farmer knowledge can considerably limit the benefits of Bt cotton for small-scale farmers. The paper points out the importance to include the institutional conditions in the evaluation of agricultural biotechnology in developing countries.
Keywords
- Biotechnology, Bt-cotton, China, Pesticide use
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Agronomy and Crop Science
- Economics, Econometrics and Finance(all)
- Economics and Econometrics
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In: International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, Vol. 3, No. 1, 06.06.2011, p. 44-56.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Why do some bt-cotton farmers in China continue to use high levels of pesticides?
AU - Pemsl, D.
AU - Waibel, H.
AU - Gutierrez, A. P.
PY - 2011/6/6
Y1 - 2011/6/6
N2 - China was the first developing country to introduce Bt cotton on a large scale. This paper provides an indepth economic analysis of Bt cotton production by small-scale farmers in China. Data were collected in 2002 in Linqing County, in Shandong Province and comprised a season-long cotton production monitoring with 150 farmers and complementary household interviews. For quality assessment, the Bt toxin concentration of the various Bt varieties used by the farmers was determined for each plot. All farmers were growing insect resistant Bt cotton varieties. Yet, they sprayed high amounts of chemical insecticides, out of which 40% were extremely or highly hazardous. The paper reviews methodological issues inherent to impact assessment of crop biotechnology and identifies market and institutional failure as possible reasons for continued high pesticide use. Using the damage function methodology the coefficients for both damage control inputs, i.e., Bt varieties (measured as toxin concentration), and insecticide quantity were not significantly different from zero. Results show that absence of enabling institutions and lack of farmer knowledge can considerably limit the benefits of Bt cotton for small-scale farmers. The paper points out the importance to include the institutional conditions in the evaluation of agricultural biotechnology in developing countries.
AB - China was the first developing country to introduce Bt cotton on a large scale. This paper provides an indepth economic analysis of Bt cotton production by small-scale farmers in China. Data were collected in 2002 in Linqing County, in Shandong Province and comprised a season-long cotton production monitoring with 150 farmers and complementary household interviews. For quality assessment, the Bt toxin concentration of the various Bt varieties used by the farmers was determined for each plot. All farmers were growing insect resistant Bt cotton varieties. Yet, they sprayed high amounts of chemical insecticides, out of which 40% were extremely or highly hazardous. The paper reviews methodological issues inherent to impact assessment of crop biotechnology and identifies market and institutional failure as possible reasons for continued high pesticide use. Using the damage function methodology the coefficients for both damage control inputs, i.e., Bt varieties (measured as toxin concentration), and insecticide quantity were not significantly different from zero. Results show that absence of enabling institutions and lack of farmer knowledge can considerably limit the benefits of Bt cotton for small-scale farmers. The paper points out the importance to include the institutional conditions in the evaluation of agricultural biotechnology in developing countries.
KW - Biotechnology
KW - Bt-cotton
KW - China
KW - Pesticide use
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84883305610&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14735903.2005.9684743
DO - 10.1080/14735903.2005.9684743
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84883305610
VL - 3
SP - 44
EP - 56
JO - International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability
JF - International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability
SN - 1473-5903
IS - 1
ER -