Pesticides, Information, and Pest Management under Uncertainty

The impact of uncertainty on decisions made by risk averse farmers regarding pesticide use and the way it affects reactions to various changes were investigated. A pesticide crop model is presented to examine farmers' behavior. At any given time there are a number of pests, which cause damage to the crop in an amount related to their number, present on the farm. The farmer can affect the number of pests by applying pesticides in various volumes at varying costs. The impact of pesticides on pests is reflected through a kill function that includes a random element to reflect such factors as weather, temperature, and wind. Additional inputs that are related to pest management include the adoption of specific planting patterns, pest resistant varieties of plants, timing, and quantity of water and fertilizer applications. The use of these pest management techniques is viewed as a factor reducing the mean of the distribution of the damage level, while the cost is of a fixed nature. Thus, the model determines the profits that would have been realized if no pests were present, the number of pests surviving after pesticide application, and the total cost of pesticide application.