Land Ownership and Use of Pesticides. Evidence from the Mekong Delta

Abstract

Massive use of pesticides is one of the major environmental problems in developing countries. I analyse the correlation between land ownership and use of pesticides in the Mekong Delta. On the one hand, the negative effects of pesticides on the long-run soil productivity should discourage owners to use pesticides. On the other hand, these chemicals increase the productivity in the short-run, pushing farmers to increase their use. The results show that the first effect prevails (i.e. land owners are more prone to increase the quantity of pesticides used than land renters are) and that sensitising programmes on the harmfulness of chemicals have no apparent effect on the farmers’ choice to increase the quantity of pesticides used.