Environmental and Production Cost Impacts of No-till in Finland: Estimates from Observed Behavior

Abstract

No-till has been promoted as a cultivation method that reduces both production costs and the environmental impacts of farming relative to conventional tillage. Using farmlevel data from Finland, we show that no-till has no statistically significant effect on total variable costs but that it increases the use of plant protection products and fertilizers, and decreases the use of labor. An environmental impact simulation combining the results on input use with a nutrient and herbicide runoff model predicts that no-till produces environmental benefits on highly erodible land, but may be even detrimental to the environment in average conditions. 3

The impact of conservation tillage on maize yield and input demand: the case of smallholder farmers in north‐west Ethiopia

“…Our findings suggest that adopters have responded by increasing herbicide use . Similarly, Laukkanen and Nauges () found that CT adoption increases both chemical fertiliser and herbicide use. On the other hand, Teklewold et al .…”

“…It can sequester carbon and contribute to climate mitigation according to Lal () and others. However, there are also concerns that it could be accompanied by increased use of herbicides to mitigate potential weed incidence, which could adversely affect the environment (Laukkanen and Nauges ) and health (Sheahana et al . ).…”

“…This indicates that the promotion of improved technologies should not be based merely on results obtained from research stations. A few studies have investigated the impact of CT using survey data (Fuglie ; Laukkanen and Nauges ; Teklewold et al . ).…”

Crop Insurance as a Strategy for Adapting to Climate Change

“…(, ), Groom et al . () and Laukkanen and Nauges (). This assumption should not influence our conclusions.…”

“…We focus on revenue as a measure of farmer's welfare. We assume that climate is the primary source of production risk, thus modelling farmers as price-takers and assuming that prices are perfectly predictable in the short-run, see alsoKoundouri et al (2003Koundouri et al ( , 2006,Groom et al (2008) andLaukkanen and Nauges (2011). This assumption should not influence our conclusions.…”