Report from the Sub-committee on Production, Economics and Employment

Preface

The Sub-committee on Production, Economics and Employment, which is part of the Bichel Committee, was appointed in autumn 1997 to assess the economic consequences of phasing out the use of pesticides. This report is a result of those assessments and is one of five technical background reports that form the basis for the Bichel Committee's final report to the Minister of Environment and Energy. 

The other four background reports cover: the consequences for agriculture and for the environment and health, the legal possibilities of phasing out the use of pesticides and, lastly, the overall consequences of a total switch to organic farming.

This is the first time in Denmark – and probably also internationally – that such an extensive interdisciplinary analysis has been conducted, of the consequences for agricultural of a total or partial phasing-out of pesticide use and of a total restructuring for organic production.

The sub-committee’s economic analyses were based on agronomic and scientific results arrived at by the Sub-Committee on Agriculture and the Sub-Committee on Environment and Health. The sub-committee used the reductions in yield for different crops mapped by the Sub-Committee on Agriculture to calculate economically rational crop rotations and associated gross margins for different types of farm. On the basis of these operational analyses, the sub-committee then calculated the socioeconomic consequences in a general equilibrium model for the entire Danish economy.

The sub-committee also tried to arrive at a valuation of the environmental and health consequences of phasing out pesticides. However, it is much more difficult to quantify the gains than the costs.

The main analyses concern agriculture, but the sub-committee also looked at market gardening and forestry.

The sub-committee based its report on a number of consultants' reports. The consultants, the members of the sub-committee and the secretariat have all made a major contribution to the creation of the report, and we take this opportunity to thank everyone concerned for their good work.

Niels Kærgård
11. March 1999