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Do Refuge Requirements for Biotechnology Crops Promote Economic Efficiency? Some Evidence for Bt Cotton

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2015

Michael J. Livingston ,
Nicholas P. Storer ,
John W. Van Duyn  and
George G. Kennedy
Michael J. Livingston
Affiliation:
Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Nicholas P. Storer
Affiliation:
Dow Agrosciences, LLC
John W. Van Duyn
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University
George G. Kennedy
Affiliation:
Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University
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Abstract

We examine producer behavior, resistance evolution, and returns under alternative refuge requirements in an eastern North Carolina region with multiple corn, cotton, and soybean fields infested by a mobile pest. Returns are highest, pyrethroid sprays occur least frequently, and pyrethroid resistance evolution is delayed most effectively with no refuge requirement. Complying with the current 20% refuge requirement costs the producer $8.67 per cotton acre, or $34.21 per non-transgenic insecticidal (Bt) cotton acre. Returns are highest under each refuge requirement when one-toxin Bt cotton is not phased out; however, removal of the technology at the earliest phase-out date minimizes regional pyrethroid sprays.

Keywords

bollwormBt cottonpyrethroidsresistancestructured refugeunstructured refugeQ16Q56Q57Q58R34R38
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , April 2007 , pp. 171 - 185
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 2007

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