Agriculture, Pesticide Use, and Economic Development: A Global Examination (1990–2014)

Abstract

Modern agricultural production typically requires large quantities of chemical pesticides, a potential source of both environmental and human harm. Previous social science research has suggested that environmental problems such as those associated with pesticide use may begin to decline at higher levels of economic development. Using fixed effects models, we examine whether this possible relationship holds within nations and over time. This study draws on data from the World Bank as well as pesticide use data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to examine the relationship between pesticide use and economic development within nations from 1990 to 2014. The findings are considered from theoretical perspectives in environmental sociology on the drivers of environmental impacts: the treadmill of production theory, structural human ecology, ecological modernization theory, and the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. The results of this study show a positive relationship between economic development and pesticide consumption over time, with no decline in use at higher levels of economic development. Thus, they generally support the claims made by treadmill of production and structural human ecology.

Impact of Economic Development on Pesticide Use in South-East Europe

“…As a general rule, at the first stage of income growth, there is a positive correlation with pesticide use. After turning point, that relationship should be negative [58,59]. Also, it is expected that with decreasing dependence on the Descriptive statistics for all variables are shown in Table 2.…”

“…GDP per capita should be in inverted relation with environmental pollution. Namely, according to the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), there is an inverted U-shaped curve between environmental pollution, including the use of pesticides, and per capita GDP [24][25][26]. EKC hypothesis implies that natural resources consumption and pollution will increase with the increase in income before reaching a certain income threshold.…”

Applications of Chemically Modified Clay Minerals and Clays to Water Purification and Slow Release Formulations of Herbicides

“…In case it is needed to enhance the flow velocity by a given factor, it is possible to achieve this outcome without a loss in filtration efficiency by multiplying the length of the filter by the same factor. In fact, inspection of Equation (1) indicates that multiplication of filter length and flow velocity, v, by the same factor does not modify the outcome. This implies that operating a laboratory filter at a small flow velocity during filtration can yield useful information on filtration through a large filter, where the flow velocity is larger.…”

“…"Herbicides" are used for weed management in annual and perennial crops and in non-agricultural areas. They comprise approximately 46% of the total global use of pesticides [1]. Herbicides can be applied by a variety of means including ground and aerial sprayers, either pre-emergence on bare soil, or post-emergence, when the crop is present-as a directed spray or over-the-top.…”

An Environmental Justice Perspective on Smallholder Pesticide Use in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…Pushes for a "green revolution" nonetheless continue to encourage or even impose input-intensive forms of agriculture across the continent (Dawson et al, 2016;Moseley, 2016), and the agrochemicals industry plays an active role, having identified Africa as the last "open frontier" (Mbilinyi, 2012). By global standards, pesticide use in much of SSA is still low but has been observed to grow alongside gross domestic product (Snyder et al, 2015), which aligns with global trends (Hedlund et al, 2020). Furthermore, pesticides "can be a concern even at low national rates of application if they are used inappropriately" (Semalulu et al, 2005, p. 162).…”