Cotton production and water quality: Economic and environmental effects of pollution prevention. Agricultural economic report

Technical Report · Tue Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:6735713

Crutchfield, S R; Ribaudo, M O; Hansen, L T; Quiroga, R

Cotton production, compared with other crops, is less likely to cause erosion-induced water-quality problems because cotton acreage is not the major source of erosion in most regions. For cotton production, the most widespread potential damages to water quality are nitrates from fertilizer polluting ground water and pesticides contaminating surface water. This damage could be reduced by restricting chemical and fertilizer use on all cotton production, but doing so could reduce cotton yields and raise cotton prices. The same level of water-quality improvement could be achieved at less cost by targeting the chemical use or erosion restrictions only to cotton farms with the most vulnerable soils. Data come from a 1989 USDA survey of cotton producers.

• Research Organization: Economic Research Service, Washington, DC (United States). Resources and Technology Div.
• OSTI ID: 6735713
• Report Number(s): PB-93-147296/XAB; USDA/AER-664
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
COTTON
PRODUCTION
WATER POLLUTION
CROPS
WATER POLLUTION ABATEMENT
CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
WATER QUALITY
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
FARMS
FERTILIZERS
GROUND WATER
INCOME
PESTICIDES
STATISTICAL DATA
SURFACE WATERS
DATA
ECONOMICS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
NUMERICAL DATA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
POLLUTION ABATEMENT
WATER
290300* - Energy Planning & Policy- Environment
Health
& Safety
540320 - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
290201 - Energy Planning & Policy- Economics- (1992-)