Examining the economic impacts of integrated pest management among vegetable farmers in Southern Ghana

This study analyzes the adoption of integrated pest management (IPM) strategies and the impact of adoption on yields and farm net returns of vegetable farmers in Southern Ghana. We employ a two-step multinomial logit model to account for selection bias that occurs when unobservable factors influence adoption of IPM and impacts on outcomes. The empirical results show that the number of years of schooling and extension contacts of farmers adopting pesticides application only have positive effects on yields, whereas credit constraints and farm size exert negative effects. Farmers adopting pest monitoring only and employing more hired labor are associated with lower yields, whereas farmer-based organizations and lettuce cultivation are associated with higher yields. Increasing the number of years of schooling of farmers adopting pesticides application only tends to increase farm net returns. Farmers with unobserved characteristics linked to lowering yields or farm net returns tend to shift to an alternative IPM component.