Economics of Pesticide Use
see also Organics/Economy
Economic Impact of Glyphosate Contamination on Organic Production in Saskatchewan (COTA Organic summit, November 18. 2019)
- 26% producers had an unintended contact with glyphosate incident on their farm
- 46% of respondents had to take land out of production
- 20% of respondents lost a sale
- 52% of respondents reported a financial loss
- 20 % of exporters had loads rejected by buyer that had passed glyphosate residue testing before it left Saskatchewan.
Pesticides Expenses Significantly Outweigh Economic Benefits (Beyond Pesticides, This is from the report 'Pesticides ‘cost double the amount they yield,’ by the French-based organization Bureau for the Appraisal of Social Impacts for Citizen Information (BASIC). Moreover, the annual cost of increasing organic farms three-fold by 2030 is less than the cost of pesticides to society (i.e., adverse health and ecological effects from pesticide use and contamination). However, the price to pay from pesticide use encompasses much more than the products themselves. Researchers point to the need for government and health officials to consider the billion-dollar costs associated with adverse health effects from pesticide use, especially as studies confirm that pesticides cause cancer, Parkinson’s, and other diseases that are increasing' The study finds that Europe pays nearly twice as much (2.3 billion Euros) in subsidies than is generated in economic return to sustain pesticide production and use in 2017. The profit generated by industry that same year was 900 million Euros. The report notes that without subsidies, lobbying, and payment of expenses associated with the adverse effects of pesticides, the pesticide sector would lack profitability. Moreover, the reports confirm intense pesticide use produces multiple harms. Declines in insect populations, birds, and sensitive organisms are prevalent among regions with extensive chemical use. The researchers warn that insufficient pesticide regulations do little to protect the occupational and general population from various toxic substances. However, the BASIC report finds the number of pesticides used in agriculture doubled in the past 20 years, and so the economic damage is much greater than previous figures demonstrate. Although the pesticide industry carries out large-scale lobbying to defend current pesticide use, total costs for lobbying approaches 10 million euros per year, which is greater than the pesticide regulation budget for the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). SNAP Comment: And I always see Europe as 'safer' as they have adopted a preventative registration model rather than our widely debunked 'the dose makes the poison' model.