Reducing pesticide use through optimal reallocation at different spatial scales: The case of French arable farming
研究了从农场到区域层面消除效率低下和重新分配生产活动对减少农药使用的潜力，发现法国默兹省样本农场在保持产出不变时农药使用可减少50%以上。
Abstract Reduction of pesticide use is one of the major challenges in the agricultural sector. Several methods, including efficiency analysis, have been proposed to address this issue. In general, efficiency analysis in the use of pesticides is conducted at the individual level (e.g., farm). We here propose to extend this analysis from farm level to aggregate (or district) level. In addition to the potential pesticide reduction by eliminating individual inefficiency, we measure the reduction due to the reallocation of productive activity across farms, within increasingly large spatial units. Results show that pesticides could be reduced by more than 50% in a sample of farms in the French Department of Meuse during 2014–2016, after eliminating individual technical inefficiency and reallocating activities across farms at the largest spatial unit, while producing at least the same output. Therefore, the reallocation associated with inefficiency elimination can help achieve the pesticide reduction targets set by several countries.