美国农药使用中的有关经济和政策

Economic and Policy Issues of U.S.Agricultural Pesticide Use

根据美国农业部调研的估定以及经济因素的影响、农业政策、关于所使用的农药总体数量和混合农药的农药管理条例,对农药的使用和其他控制措施对经济因素,如要素和产品市场以及农业政策做出回应。农药风险及利益社会价值的改变,深刻地影响农药政策,影响可使用的农药,但是仅仅间接地影响所使用的总量。如果当前的农药监管过程经济效率低下,可能与大多公众所持有的政策倾向相一致——减少农药危害,而不是最小化监管成本。

This paper discusses U.S. agricultural pesticide use trends based on estimates developed from USDA surveys, and the influence of economic factors, agricultural policy, and pesticide regulation on aggregate quantities and mix of pesticides used. The use of pesticides and other control practices responded to economic factors such as input and output markets and agricultural policies. Changing societal values toward pesticide risks and benefits profoundly affected pesticide policy, influencing the pesticides available for use, but only indirectly affecting aggregate quantities used. While the current pesticide regulatory process might have economic inefficiencies, it might be consistent with policy preferences held by much of the public - to reduce pesticide hazards rather than minimize regulatory costs.