The value of insect management to US maize, soybean and cotton farmers

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Most US maize, soybean and cotton farmers use Bt crops, insecticidal seed treatments, soil-applied insecticides, and foliar sprays to manage insect pests. Given the global economic importance of these crops, we examine farmer benefits of this insecticide use. Using a telephone survey, we document pest management practices and concerns, estimate adoption and farmer perceived values for these practices, and determine factors besides yield and cost that impact adoption and perceived value. RESULTS: Seed-based technologies (Bt seed, seed treatments) dominated insecticide use. Almost 80% of respondents' planted hectares used Bt crops and more than half used seed treatments, while about one-sixth used soil insecticides and one-sixth to one-third used foliar insecticides. Perceived farmer values per treated hectare were greatest for Bt cotton and foliar insecticides in cotton, especially after first bloom. Values for maize and other cotton insecticide uses were greater than for soybean. Aggregating over treated areas, the largest total values for each crop were for seed-based technologies. In addition to yield and cost, farmers showed significant concern for economic risk and human and environmental safety when making pest management decisions. These non-monetary concerns significantly affected the likelihood farmers used these practices and their perceived value. CONCLUSION: For these crops, seed-based insecticides dominate farmer insecticide use and the value they derive from insecticides. Because seed purchase is months before planting, farmers rely on risk-based integrated pest management to make pest management decisions, weighing both monetary and non-monetary factors when deciding whether the risks are sufficient to justify the use of insecticides.

Antibacterial mechanism of Biochanin A and its efficacy for the control of Xanthomonas axonopodispv.glycines in soybean

“…Namely, the global production of soybean reached 348 million tons in 2018. However, soybean plants are highly susceptible to a wide range of pathogens that reduce the quality and yield of the crops 3,4 . Among soybean pathogens, Xanthomonas axonopodis pv.…”

An agent‐based model of insect resistance management and mitigation for Bt maize: a social science perspective

“…Many social factors not addressed here also affect adoption, including commodity markets, farmer preferences for managing income risk and for human and environmental safety, 19,44,61 and technology markets and seed company pricing behavior 62 . Also, social networks in agriculture typically have varying nodes of importance centered on key consultants, retailers, and extension agents 41,42 .…”

“…For example, farmer concerns for human and environmental safety are key concerns in adoption of pest management practices, whereas compliance with refuge primarily is a social outcome that contributes significantly to resistance evolution. 19 Initially low refuge compliance contributed to the development of Bt maize resistance among Busseola fusca populations in South Africa, and use of voluntary refuge compliance led low compliance and the same outcome for Spodoptera frugiperda populations in Brazil, while ensuring that higher refuge compliance was a significant benefit for use of seed mixtures in the US. 20,21 Hence, complex systems models of resistance management incorporating both biological and social processes may provide new insights.…”

“…However, examining genetic and ecological processes in isolation from broader social factors driving human behavior potentially misses key determinants in the evolution of resistance, such as the effects of prices and costs, farmer concerns for human and environmental safety, the opinions of advisors and neighbors, and regulation enforcement. For example, farmer concerns for human and environmental safety are key concerns in adoption of pest management practices, whereas compliance with refuge primarily is a social outcome that contributes significantly to resistance evolution 19 . Initially low refuge compliance contributed to the development of Bt maize resistance among Busseola fusca populations in South Africa, and use of voluntary refuge compliance led low compliance and the same outcome for Spodoptera frugiperda populations in Brazil, while ensuring that higher refuge compliance was a significant benefit for use of seed mixtures in the US 20, 21 .…”

Developing a decision‐making framework for insect pest management: a case study using Aphis glycines (Hemiptera: Aphididae)

“…Financial decision‐making in agriculture employs basic principles to adhere to the financial goals of individual decision‐makers. Agricultural decision‐making is particularly complex, because behavioral differences based on the individual farmer's perception of risk leads to variation in the decision‐making process and differences in farm enterprises often present unique choice options 1,2 . Management decisions and farmer perception of profitability are further complicated when the severity of a pest infestation is sporadic and unpredictable 3 .…”