An economic evaluation of cotton pest management in Pinal County, Arizona

Published in 1974

Chemical pesticides are a major input to agricultural production in Arizona. The use of pesticides on cotton has been further magnified in the last few years due to heavy infestations of the pink bollworm. The uncertainty of crop losses resulting from pest outbreaks has caused many cotton growers to engage in inundative type control programs. However, increased applications and rising pesticide costs have made this form of risk aversion costly. An alternative to inundative control has been integrated pest control management where all suitable techniques— chemical, cultural, and biological— are used to maintain pest populations below some economic level. It is the objective of this study to test the hypothesis that integrated pest control management will result in added net returns to the grower vis-a-vis that offered by an inundative control program. Pinal County is selected as the study area. The study considers a group of 14 growers who followed integrated pest management principals and 14 growers who did not for the 1972 growing season. Pesticide material and application costs were used in a budgeting framework to evaluate the two pest control alternatives, along with an examination of pest infestation levels for the two groups. In addition, statistical analysis and breakeven analysis is used to provide more insight into the costs and returns associated with alternative pest control strategies.

AZU_TD_BOX276_E9791_1974_122.pdf (1.64 MB)

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