The Herbicide Revolution in Developing Countries: Patterns, Causes, and Implications

Steven Haggblade (), Bart Minten (), Carl Pray (), Thomas Reardon and David Zilberman
Additional contact information
Bart Minten: International Food Policy Research Institute
Carl Pray: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

The European Journal of Development Research, 2017, vol. 29, issue 3, No 1, 533-559

Abstract: Abstract Two major shocks in global supply systems have driven a rapid recent surge in herbicide adoption in the developing world. A flood of off-patent herbicide formulations has hit global markets at the same time that emerging low-cost Asian suppliers have mastered herbicide production technologies, scaled up productive capacity, and significantly lowered production costs. Together, they have increased availability and driven down herbicide costs in farming communities across the developing world. In settings where rural wage rates face upwards pressure, from non-farm and urban employment alternatives, herbicide adoption has responded rapidly. The years since 2005, in particular, have witnessed a sharp spurt in herbicide adoption in countries as diverse as China and Ethiopia. The six case studies reported in this special issue – the USA, EU, China, India, Ethiopia, and Mali – examine the differences in timing, key drivers, and consequences of herbicide adoption across this broad range of global settings.

Keywords: agriculture; herbicides; global; intensification; environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41287-017-0090-7 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:29:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1057_s41287-017-0090-7

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/journal/41287/PS2

DOI: 10.1057/s41287-017-0090-7

Access Statistics for this article

The European Journal of Development Research is currently edited by Spencer Henson and Natalia Lorenzoni

More articles in The European Journal of Development Research from Palgrave Macmillan, European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().