Landowners’ willingness to accept pesticide reduction in the Pipiripau River Basin (Brazil)

Brazil is the largest buyer of pesticides in the world and allows the use of chemicals that have long been banned in other countries. One in four Brazilian cities has water polluted by agrochemicals, and the poorest and most vulnerable suburban communities are considered to be suffering disproportionately from this exposure to pesticide contamination of drinking water. To increase the quantity and improve the quality of water, in 2012, the Pipiripau River Basin (PRB) was selected as the site of one of the main pilot studies in Brazil for the protection of water resources. However, the Payment for Environmental Services (PES) currently implemented in the Water Producer Programme (WPP) does not address pesticide use reduction as an environmental service. In this study, we report the result of a survey of land owners in the basin and in particular the results of a Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) applied to estimate the potential Pipiripau Basin landowners' Willingness-To-Accept (WTA), compensation for reducing the use of agrochemicals on their land. This study is the first to apply a dce to analyse policies for pesticide reduction and the protection of water resources in Brazil, and there are very few studies worldwide on the topic to date. We find that the contract characteristics are important determinants of the WTA. Furthermore, farm and landowner characteristics also impact the estimated WTA, including, for example, the farm type, the current use of pesticides, and who is involved in the decision-making. We also find clear evidence that profit considerations are not the only determinant of landowners' decision to participate in a pesticide use reduction scheme.