Agricultural chemicals in ground water: Preventing contamination by removing barriers against low-input farm management

Abstract

Agricultural pesticides and fertilizers have contaminated ground water in areas throughout the U.S. This contamination may adversely affect more than 50 million people. The cost of monitoring to determine the extent of ground water contamination in vulnerable areas is likely to exceed one billion dollars. To reduce the possibility of contamination farmers can adopt “low-input” production methods. Unfortunately, several factors inhibit farmers from adopting low-input methods. These factors include the tendency of farmers to ignore the external costs of agrichemical use, especially environmental damage, the lack of up-to-date information describing low-input farming techniques, and government support programs that indirectly discourage farmers from adopting low-input methods. The federal government can take several steps to eliminate these obstacles. Farm support programs can be changed to eliminate incentives that encourage heavy agrichemical use and to require more stringent environmental compliance to be eligible for program benefits. Taxes can be imposed on agrichemicals to offset their external costs and to provide new funds for research on alternatives. Finally, current agricultural research priorities can be shifted to emphasize low-input production methods.