Pesticide-free but not organic: Adoption of a large-scale wheat production standard in Switzerland

The sustainable intensification of agriculture requires solutions for a large-scale reduction of pesticide use while sustaining agricultural yields. Pesticide-free production standards, which bring together the strengths of all the food value chain actors, could be a cornerstone of this transformation. In Switzerland, a non-organic, private–public standard for pesticide-free wheat production is currently being introduced by the producer organization IP-SUISSE. It is the first of its kind in Europe and may reach a market share of 50% of Swiss wheat production. We here assess the determinants of farmers' participation and willingness to participate in the future. For our analysis, we combine a survey of the entire population of IP-SUISSE wheat producers (4749 farmers, 23.3% response rate) with data on historical farm-level wheat yields, soil properties, weather, climate, weed pressure, and spread of herbicide resistance. Our results indicate that a large-scale establishment of pesticide-free wheat production in Switzerland is possible. We find that farmers' perceptions of positive environmental effects of the production program are key for adoption. Moreover, farmers' expectations of the program’s production effects play a central role. Farmers perceiving large yield losses and increases in production risks are less likely to enter the program. Based on our results, we discuss implications, leverage points, and challenges for designing and implementing large-scale pesticide-free production programs.