Economic Evaluation of Rice IPM Practices in MADA, Malaysia

Abstract

Environmental protection is a basic element of sustainable agricultural development. Agricultural protection practices however can cause negative externalities. One of main concerns of the externality is the negative effects of pesticide. Concerns on the negative effects of pesticide use have motivated the development of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programmes. In MADA, Malaysia the IPM collaborative research support programme (CRSP-IPM) was established to specifically address the widespread misuse of pesticides in paddy cultivation, one of the major rice producing regions in the country. An IPM practice in paddy production initiatives includes research on the optimal use of pesticides, complementary weed control strategies, and alternative cultural and biological controls. Results of this study showed that the programme would generate economic benefits which include improvements in water quality, food safety, pesticide application safety, and long term sustainability of pest management systems. A part of savings in environmental costs and the reduction in pesticide use also reduced operating expenses. The calculated economic benefits in terms of aggregate cost savings per season for 454 farmers were MYR756,393 for insecticides, MYR40,537 for herbicides, and MYR94,753 for fungicides.

Keywords: IPM, Adoption, Economic evaluation