Economic Impact of Discontinuing Farm Use of Chlordane

Robert P. Jenkins, Herman W. Delvo and Austin S. Fox

No 307475, Agricultural Economic Reports from United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

Abstract: In 1971, U.S. farmers would have incurred additional costs of over $1.84 million if farm uses of the insecticide chlordane had been discontinued. Based on estimates of 1971 acreage treated with chlordane, this aggregate loss would have included $1.56 million in additional costs for alternative insecticides and $0.28 million in yield losses. Added costs for alternative insecticides would have ranged from $0.18 an acre for cotton to $6.77 an acre for corn. For producers of potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, and certain vegetables, the added cost would have averaged about $2.25 an acre. Because alternative insecticides are not as effective as chlordane in controlling insects on citrus, strawberries, and certain vegetables, per acre yield losses for these crops would have been $31, $75, and $23, respectively. Total use of chlordane would have decreased by 601,000 pounds if farm use had been discontinued. But the increase in alternative insecticides would have been about 1.1 million pounds--primarily carbaryl and diazinon for com production and small amounts of phorate, EPN, parathion, and methyl parathion for other crops.

Keywords: Crop Production/Industries; Production Economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 20
Date: 1972-08
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:uerser:307475

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.307475

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