An economic and environmental assessment of a glyphosate ban for the example of maize production


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Date

2020-04

Publication Type

Journal Article

ETH Bibliography

yes

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Abstract

We aim to contribute to a more informed discussion of the economic and environmental effects of a glyphosate ban in European agriculture. As real-world observations of weed control under a glyphosate ban are not available, we develop a normative modelling approach based on damage abatement functions considering production risk and farmers’ risk preferences. Different sources of risk are included by incorporating uncertainty of both attainable yield level and weed pressure. Results for a case study of silage maize cultivation in 377 municipalities in North RhineWestphalia, Germany, show that a glyphosate ban causes a shift towards more mechanical weed control, but not to more pronounced use of selective herbicides. The ban slightly reduces net profits and yields, leads to a significant reduction of the overall toxicity of pesticide use, but increases energy consumption of the agricultural system. The magnitude of these effects is found to be critically dependent on output price levels and yield expectations.

Publication status

published

Editor

Book title

Volume

47 (2)

Pages / Article No.

371 - 402

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Event

Edition / version

Methods

Software

Geographic location

Date collected

Date created

Subject

herbicide; glyphosate; maize; output damage control; risk

Organisational unit

09564 - Finger, Robert / Finger, Robert check_circle

Notes

It was possible to publish this article open access thanks to a Swiss National Licence with the publisher.

Funding

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