Adoption of pesticide-free wheat production in Switzerland (dataset)

Abstract

The here presented dataset provides information on i) actual and planned participation decisions of Swiss «Extenso» wheat producers in a program for pesticide-free wheat production of the producer organization IP-SUISSE and ii) a wide range of potential determinants for program adoption. The dataset consists of survey data, as well as external data from a range of relevant data sources, matched based on farm location. The online survey was sent out to all IP-SUISSE wheat producers in December 2019 and was online for 5 weeks (until the beginning of January 2020). Two reminders were sent out to participants, each after two weeks, respectively. Survey data includes complete responses of wheat producers (1105 responses; sample size 4749; 23.3 % participation rate). Data was collected on the actual program participation decision (in 2018/19 and 2019/20) and the willingness to participate in the program in future growing seasons. Producers were further asked to elicit the importance of a range of determinants for participation, state their participation in federal and cantonal direct payment schemes for reduced pesticide use and soil conservation and report their experience with pesticide-free wheat cultivation. Concerning their expectations in the case of adoption, they were asked to state their preferred weed control strategies, availability of necessary machinery and give their expectations regarding expected long-term changes in yield and production risks. Additionally, data was collected with regard to farm and farmers’ characteristics (workforce, leased land, income diversification, education, age, farm succession). Finally, domain specific risk preferences, production goals, environmental and health preferences, pesticide use attitudes, locus of control and self-efficacy were elicited via self-assessment questions. The dataset further includes matched data on climate (from MeteoSuisse, see Frei (2014) and Frei et al. (2006)), soil suitability (Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture, 2009), weed pressure (InfoFlora, 2019) and herbicide resistances per municipality (from Agroscope (2019), see Tschuy and Wirth (2015)).