Spillover effects of organic agriculture on pesticide use on nearby fields

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Larsen, Ashley E.; Noack, Frederik; Powers, L. Claire
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Santa Barbara; University of British Columbia; University of Colorado System; University of Colorado Boulder
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-10209
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adf2572
• 发表日期: 2024-03-22
• 关键词: pest-control; services; adoption

摘要

The environmental impacts of organic agriculture are only partially understood and whether such practices have spillover effects on pests or pest control activity in nearby fields remains unknown. Using about 14,000 field observations per year from 2013 to 2019 in Kern County, California, we postulate that organic crop producers benefit from surrounding organic fields decreasing overall pesticide use and, specifically, pesticides targeting insect pests. Conventional fields, by contrast, tend to increase pesticide use as the area of surrounding organic production increases. Our simulation suggests that spatially clustering organic cropland can entirely mitigate spillover effects that lead to an increase in net pesticide use.