Policy measures are needed to reduce the risks associated with pesticides' application in agriculture, resulting in more sustainable agricultural systems. Pesticide taxes can be an important tool in the toolkit of policy-makers and are of increasing importance in European agriculture. However, little is known about the effects of such tax solutions and their impacts on the environment, farmers, and human health. We aim to fill this gap and synthesize experiences made in the European countries that have introduced pesticide taxes, i.e., France, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The major findings of our analysis are: (1) overall, the effectiveness of pesticide taxes is limited, but if a tax on a specific pesticide is high enough, the application and the associated risks will be reduced significantly; (2) in all countries, hoarding activities have been observed before a tax introduction or increase. Therefore, short-term effects of taxes are substantially smaller than long-term effects; (3) differentiated taxes are superior to undifferentiated taxes because fewer accompanying measures are required to reach policy goals; (4) tax scheme designs are not always in line with the National Action Plan targets. Low tax levels do not necessarily lead to a reduction of pesticide input and differentiated taxes do not necessarily lead to fewer violations of water residue limits.

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This page was generated automatically upon download from the ETH Zurich Research Collection. For more information please consult the Terms of use.

This page was generated automatically upon download from the ETH Zurich Research Collection. For more information please consult the Terms of use.

The effects of a glyphosate ban on cultivation of silage maize are simulated using a spatially explicit bioeconomic model that accounts for different pre-and post-sowing weed control strategies and production risks. We analyse the effects of a glyphosate ban on farmers' choices of field-level weed control strategies. These strategies are evaluated in two environmental dimensions. More specifically, we consider a pesticide load indicator to assess environmental toxicity, fate and human health effects as well as the energy demand of the agricultural system. We find that a glyphosate ban leads to a significant reduction of the pesticide load of silage maize production. However, a glyphosate ban also leads to somewhat higher energy consumption.