Environmental Policies for Agricultural Pollution Control

This book describes the environmental problems associated with agriculture, particularly the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers and the disposal of animal waste. These have become major policy issues in many countries, with the main polluting effect being on water quality. As with other types of pollution, significant reductions in agriculture's contribution to water pollution requires the application of either enforceable regulatory approaches or changes in the economic environment, so that farmers adopt environmentally-friendly production practices.

Providing a review and guide to the policy options and their economic administrative and political merits, the reader can develop an understanding of these options and their merits in the emerging policy context. The principal focus is on the developed world, particularly North America and Europe. The book is aimed at advanced students, researchers and professionals in agricultural economics and policy, and environmental and pollution sciences.

Explores the economic dimensions of designing and evaluating water pollution control policies for agriculture. The seven papers describe theoretical and empirical research on policy design, methods for policy evaluation, the policy experiences of various countries, and linkages between agricultural trade and the environment. The contributors consider whom strategies should target, how to induce changes in their behavior, and how to measure compliance. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

both at Pennsylvania State University