Optimal Herbicide Strategies for Weed Control under Risk Aversion

Expenditures for herbicides in the United States and Australia far exceed expenditures for pesticides. Agricultural economists, however, have focused on the economics of insect control, producing a large and diverse literature. There are several differences between weeds and other agricultural pests, which means that weeds warrant individual attention. Weeds reduce crop yield through competition for resources rather than by direct damage. They are less mobile, have longer life cycles, and the chemicals used to control them are more likely to damage the crop than are other pesticides. Consequently, weeds require a different model structure with different functional forms and different sources