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Innovations for pesticide application must consider environmental impact

Nature Food volume 5, pages 969–971 (2024)Cite this article

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Innovation in pesticide application is urgently needed. However, recent approaches, such as employing full-service pesticide contractors or utilizing artificial intelligence for pest control, may prioritize economic and production outcomes over environmental protection and public health. Here, we explore these propositions, their associated risks, and suggest a pathway for sustainable, risk-reduced pesticide decisions.

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Fig. 1: Benefits and risks of outsourcing pesticide decisions to either pesticide contractors or AI-based decision support tools.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Business Economics Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Tobias Dalhaus

  2. Agricultural Economics and Policy Group, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Robert Finger

  3. School of Sustainability, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel

    Asaf Tzachor

  4. Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Asaf Tzachor

  5. Production Economics Group, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

    Niklas Möhring

Authors
  1. Tobias Dalhaus
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  2. Robert Finger
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  3. Asaf Tzachor
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  4. Niklas Möhring
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tobias Dalhaus.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Food thanks Kevin Schneider and Guy Pe'er for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Dalhaus, T., Finger, R., Tzachor, A. et al. Innovations for pesticide application must consider environmental impact. Nat Food 5, 969–971 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-024-01080-0

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