Farm Machine Use and Pesticide Expenditure in Maize Production: Health and Environment Implications

Jing Zhang, Jianhua Wang and Xiaoshi Zhou
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Jing Zhang: School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Jianhua Wang: School of Business, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
Xiaoshi Zhou: College of Economics & Management, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: Although chemical pesticide use has increased agricultural productivity, it has caused adverse effects on human health and the environment. For example, pesticide exposure may result in the incidence of a human health condition (e.g., heart disease, immune disorders, cancer, and damaged skin) and it can pollute air, water, and soil conditions and damage biodiversity. Mitigating the negative externalities associated with pesticide use is essential to improve human health and environmental performance. In this study, we are trying to explore whether farm machine use reduces pesticide expenditure by analyzing farm household survey data collected from 493 maize farmers in China. An endogenous switching regression model is employed to address the sample selection bias issue associated with voluntary farm machine use. The empirical results reveal that farm machine use exerts a negative and statistically significant impact on pesticide expenditure. The findings highlight the important role of farm machines in helping reduce pesticide expenditure, which is, in turn, beneficial for improving human health conditions and environmental performance.

Keywords: farm machine use; pesticide expenditure; ESR; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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