The socioeconomic drivers of pesticide use in floriculture: insights from greenhouse rose production in Ecuador

Cristian Vasco (), Carlos Ortega (), Darío Cepeda (), Diego Salazar () and Juan Pazmiño ()
Additional contact information
Cristian Vasco: Waylla Sacha SAS
Carlos Ortega: Universidad Central del Ecuador
Darío Cepeda: Universidad Central del Ecuador
Diego Salazar: Universidad Central del Ecuador
Juan Pazmiño: Universidad Central del Ecuador

Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 2025, vol. 15, issue 3, No 7, 550-560

Abstract: Abstract While a significant body of research has addressed the negative health implications of the use of pesticides in flower production, little attention has been paid to the socioeconomic factors shaping operators’ decisions on the amount and type of pesticides to be applied. With data from the Continuous Area and Agricultural Production Survey (ESPAC) 2021, this paper analyzed the socioeconomic determinants of the amounts of pesticides used in rose production in Ecuador. The results of Tobit models reflect that more educated operators tend to use higher amounts of—less toxic—Class III pesticides, while farmers with low education endowments apply higher amounts of—more toxic—Class II pesticides. Comparatively, larger farms use more pesticides, regardless of biological target and toxicological category. Providing operators with technical education about pests and pesticides management, promoting environmental awareness among operators and enforcement of the regulatory body concerning pesticides use are explored as alternatives to reduce the use of pesticides in flower production.

Keywords: Pesticides; Floriculture; Greenhouse rose production; Toxicological category; Socioeconomic determinants; Ecuador (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13412-024-00964-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:spr:jenvss:v:15:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s13412-024-00964-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/13412

DOI: 10.1007/s13412-024-00964-8

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences is currently edited by Walter A. Rosenbaum

More articles in Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences from Springer, Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().