Evaluating the economic and sociological implications of agricultural pests and their control

Social and economic factors both affect and are impacted by pest problems and pest-control efforts. Thus, socioeconomic criteria must be met in order for a new pest-management technique to be judged a feasible alternative to current practices. This article reviews the objectives and methods for meeting and evaluating socioeconomic criteria for pest-management programmes. Economists, sociologists and other social scientists can provide valuable input to the justification, development, and evaluation of improved pest-management techniques by contributing in an interdisciplinary setting to all stages of a pest-management programme, from planning to implementation. A range of methodology, including surveys, monitoring, budgeting, simulation of economic conditions, mathematical programming, risk analysis, on-farm demonstration, and adoption research, are available for achieving this. Particular attention needs to be given to the perceptions, needs and objectives, and resources of the target pest-management user group. The socioeconomic factors important to pest management in developed regions of the world may differ from those requiring consideration in less-developed regions.