L. Joe Moffitt

Damage Control Econometrics: Functional Specification and Pesticide Productivity

Empirical studies of pesticide productivity have often concluded that the value of marginal product of pesticide exceeds marginal factor cost despite anecdotal and other evidence to the contrary. This article presents estimates of pesticide productivity derived from alternative functional specifications of pesticide involvement in production. Results suggest that explanation of the magnitude of pesticide productivity estimates obtained in empirical studies may lie somewhere other than with functional specification.

Economic Thresholds Under Uncertainty With Application To Corn Nematode Management

An economic threshold of agricultural pest management is derived. Results provide a method for researchers to use in making improved pest control recommendations to farmers without farm level decision-making. An empirical illustration for lesion nematode management in irrigated corn is given and directions for further research are indicated.

Incorporating Environmental Considerations in Pest Control Advice for Farmers

This article develops a model for incorporating environmental quality objectives into pest control advice provided to farmers by agricultural agencies. The model relies on existing institutions and current pest management decision practice and its use has potential for improvements in farm profit as well as environmental quality.

Prioritizing Invasive Species Threats Under Uncertainty

Prioritizing exotic or invasive pest threats in terms of agricultural, environmental, or human health damages is an important resource allocation issue for programs charged with preventing or responding to the entry of such organisms. Under extreme uncertainty, program managers may decide to research the severity of threats, develop prevention or control actions, and estimate cost-effectiveness in order to provide better information and more options when making decisions to choose strategies for specific pests. We examine decision rules based on the minimax and relative cost criteria in order to express a cautious approach for decisions regarding severe, irreversible consequences, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these rules, examine the roles of simple rules and sophisticated analyses in decision making, and apply a simple rule to develop a list of priority plant pests.

Robust surveillance of animal diseases: An application to the detection of bluetongue disease

Control of endemic, exotic, and emerging animal diseases critically depends on their early detection and timely management. This paper proposes a novel approach to evaluate alternative surveillance programs based on info-gap theory. A general modeling framework is developed explicitly accounting for severe uncertainty about the incursion, detection, spread, and control of exotic and emergent diseases. The model is illustrated by an evaluation of bluetongue disease surveillance strategies. Key results indicate that, when available, vaccination of the entire population is the most robust strategy. If vaccines are not available then active reporting of suspect clinical signs by farmers is a very robust surveillance policy.

Defensive Technology and Welfare Analysis of Environmental Quality Change with Uncertain Consumer Health Impacts

Measuring the ex post losses from environmental quality change is an important issue when environmental contamination creates health risks, liability is assigned, and private compensation efforts are required. This paper proposes a methodology for measuring the ex post welfare impact of environmental quality change using market behavior from defensive expenditures. Conditions under which a defensive technology can provide a bound on welfare estimates are identified.

Economic Analysis of Cotton Integrated Pest Management Strategies: Reply

In an attempt to combat problems of insect resist- wasp Trichogramma prediosum, an egg parasite, to ance and the increasing cost of new insecticides, in- control the Heliothis complex-the cotton bollworm tegrated pest management (IPM) systems have been and the tobacco budworm-on cotton. The test was lodeveloped for many crops, including cotton. Cotton cated in Portland, Arkansas, where reports indicate that IPM systems include such components as scouting to Heliothis are the key insect pests (Phillips et al.; determine when control actions should be taken, plant- Teague). ing trap crops, and using short season varieties of cot- Unlike other cotton-growing areas where actions to ton. Regardless of the component(s) of IPM systems control Heliothis are taken on a field-by-field basis, for cotton, when a decision is made that a direct con- management in Portland is based on a community control action is warranted, the control action most often cept. In 1976, Dr. J. R. Phillips of the University of used is the application of insecticides. Thus, although Arkansas initiated a community-wide integrated HeIPM strategies may reduce the frequency of insecticide liothis management program. The community proapplications and consequently reduce the possible gram treats all fields as a single field for the purposes problem of insecticide resistance, the use of conven- of Heliothis control; that is, when a decision is made tional, broad-spectrum insecticides continues to be the to treat, all fields in the community are treated primary control tool when insect outbreaks occur. (Teague). An additional component of the community To reduce the reliance on broad-spectrum insecti- approach is treatment, generally in June, of the first cides, biology-based control techniques have been Heliothis generation that attacks cotton; this supproposed as substitutes for insecticide applications in presses the population and sometimes postpones furcertain cases. Biology-based controls include, for ex- ther applications until late August (Phillips et al.). The ample, releases of natural enemies (parasites or pred- early Heliothis generation is usually suppressed with ators), releases of sterile males, and the use of highly selective material. Applications later in the seapheromones.

Modeling for pesticide productivity measurement

This paper revisits claims about implications of production function specification for pesticide productivity measurement and presents two extensions of the popular damage control specification, along with an empirical application. One extension eliminates bias caused by relying solely on economic data and shows how to include variables that represent the pest population when they are necessary to avoid bias. The second extension allows for the possibility of phytotoxicity. These extensions generalize the damage control specification by eliminating bias and allowing for a range over which the first and third stages of production may occur. The main contributions of the analysis are to clarify existing misconceptions about pesticide productivity modeling and to provide extensions to the damage control specification that permit greater realism for empirical analysis.

Application of mean-Gini stochastic efficiency analysis

This article adds to the information base concerning the applicability of mean- Gini stochastic efficiency analysis in agriculture. The mean-Gini efficient set of decisions is characterized rigorously in terms of its corresponding absolute risk aversion. In an empirical analysis, the mean-Gini efficient set of decisions is derived for four studies from the literature and compared to the second degree stochastic dominance efficient set. An alternative quantitative measure of risk aversion is used to gain insight in a visceral sense to the risk preferences associated with mean-Gini efficient decisions.

Economic Analysis of Cotton Management Strategies Integrated Pest

In an attempt to combat problems of insect resistance and the increasing cost of new insecticides, integrated pest management (IPM) systems have been developed for many crops, including cotton. Cotton IPM systems include such components as scouting to determine when control actions should be taken, planting trap crops, and using short season varieties of cotton. Regardless of the component(s) of IPM systems for cotton, when a decision is made that a direct control action is warranted, the control action most often used is the application of insecticides. Thus, although IPM strategies may reduce the frequency of insecticide applications and consequently reduce the possible problem of insecticide resistance, the use of conventional, broad-spectrum insecticides continues to be the primary control tool when insect outbreaks occur.