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Efficiency, risk and pesticide use in Swiss crop production
Fostering sustainability in agricultural production implies that farms need to increase their production efficiency. In this way, farmers will increase their incomes while mitigating their negative environmental pressures. At the same time, sustainability requires that farms need to be able to mitigate production risks, such as output losses caused by pests and diseases in crop production. Are there any arising trade-offs between production efficiency and production risk due to different farm practices in crop production? This thesis aims to investigate empirically these trade-offs for the case of Swiss crop production.
Crop production is characterised by high risk (i.e. variability in produced output) due to temporal rises in the damaging impact of pests and diseases affecting both the quantity and quality of production. In relation to the latter, farmers widely use pesticides in order to secure their incomes. Pest management in agricultural cropping systems is also critical for food security but the adverse effects of pesticides on human health and the environment have been repeatedly shown. The reduction of these adverse effects from pesticide use is an urgent topic in the agricultural policy agendas globally. Policies usually target either to restrict and/or to promote a more efficient use of these inputs.
Crop production is characterised by high risk (i.e. variability in produced output) due to temporal rises in the damaging impact of pests and diseases affecting both the quantity and quality of production. In relation to the latter, farmers widely use pesticides in order to secure their incomes. Pest management in agricultural cropping systems is also critical for food security but the adverse effects of pesticides on human health and the environment have been repeatedly shown. The reduction of these adverse effects from pesticide use is an urgent topic in the agricultural policy agendas globally. Policies usually target either to restrict and/or to promote a more efficient use of these inputs.
In Switzerland, pesticide use is highly debatable topic and the country has its own initiatives to mitigate the harmful impacts of pesticides (see Finger 2021). One example is the initiation of the low-input pesticide (Extenso) farming practice. The Extenso agri-environmental scheme is a low-pesticide way of production, in which the conventional pesticides is not restricted; the use of herbicide and seed treatments is still allowed. Hence, although Extenso may be more environmental friendly practice, it might be associated with lower production yields due to lower production efficiency and higher exposure in risks due to pests and diseases. The possible trade-offs between these production systems regarding efficiency and risk; and the arising implications for the sustainability of wheat production are not yet explained. This thesis aims to contribute to this gap in the literature, by examining one or more of the following research objectives:
-Are there differences in efficiency due to differences in farm practices (e.g. conventional vs Extenso) in Swiss crop production?
-Which farm practices result in higher exposure to production risk in Swiss crop production?
**Proposed Methodologies**
There is a range of suitable econometric approaches that can be used in order to assess production efficiency and risk (e.g. Tiedemann and Latacz-Lohmann, 2013; Skevas et al., 2014; Möhring et al., 2020). Code is provided. We will use crop farm level data from the Swiss FADN (e.g. see Möhring). Prior knowledge on microeconomics and econometrics is desired but not compulsory.
**References**
Finger, R. No pesticide-free Switzerland. Nat. Plants 7, 1324–1325 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-021-01009-6
Möhring, N, Bozzola, M, Hirsch, S, Finger, R. (2020) Are pesticides risk decreasing? The relevance of pesticide indicator choice in empirical analysis. Agricultural Economics; 51: 429– 444. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12563
Skevas, T., Stefanou, S. E., & Lansink, O. A. (2014). Pesticide use, environmental spillovers and efficiency: A DEA risk-adjusted efficiency approach applied to Dutch arable farming. European Journal of Operational Research, 237, 658–664.
Tiedemann, T. and Latacz-Lohmann, U. (2013). Production Risk and Technical Efficiency in Organic and Conventional Agriculture – The Case of Arable Farms in Germany. Journal of Agricultural Economics 64(1), 73-96
In Switzerland, pesticide use is highly debatable topic and the country has its own initiatives to mitigate the harmful impacts of pesticides (see Finger 2021). One example is the initiation of the low-input pesticide (Extenso) farming practice. The Extenso agri-environmental scheme is a low-pesticide way of production, in which the conventional pesticides is not restricted; the use of herbicide and seed treatments is still allowed. Hence, although Extenso may be more environmental friendly practice, it might be associated with lower production yields due to lower production efficiency and higher exposure in risks due to pests and diseases. The possible trade-offs between these production systems regarding efficiency and risk; and the arising implications for the sustainability of wheat production are not yet explained. This thesis aims to contribute to this gap in the literature, by examining one or more of the following research objectives:
-Are there differences in efficiency due to differences in farm practices (e.g. conventional vs Extenso) in Swiss crop production?
-Which farm practices result in higher exposure to production risk in Swiss crop production?
**Proposed Methodologies**
There is a range of suitable econometric approaches that can be used in order to assess production efficiency and risk (e.g. Tiedemann and Latacz-Lohmann, 2013; Skevas et al., 2014; Möhring et al., 2020). Code is provided. We will use crop farm level data from the Swiss FADN (e.g. see Möhring). Prior knowledge on microeconomics and econometrics is desired but not compulsory.
**References**
Finger, R. No pesticide-free Switzerland. Nat. Plants 7, 1324–1325 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-021-01009-6
Möhring, N, Bozzola, M, Hirsch, S, Finger, R. (2020) Are pesticides risk decreasing? The relevance of pesticide indicator choice in empirical analysis. Agricultural Economics; 51: 429– 444. https://doi.org/10.1111/agec.12563
Skevas, T., Stefanou, S. E., & Lansink, O. A. (2014). Pesticide use, environmental spillovers and efficiency: A DEA risk-adjusted efficiency approach applied to Dutch arable farming. European Journal of Operational Research, 237, 658–664.
Tiedemann, T. and Latacz-Lohmann, U. (2013). Production Risk and Technical Efficiency in Organic and Conventional Agriculture – The Case of Arable Farms in Germany. Journal of Agricultural Economics 64(1), 73-96
Iordanis Parikoglou (iparikoglou@ethz.ch), Robert Finger (rofinger@ethz.ch)
Iordanis Parikoglou (iparikoglou@ethz.ch), Robert Finger (rofinger@ethz.ch)