Comparison of agrochemicals allocation efficiency between greenhouse and open-field vegetables in China

The overuse of agrochemicals in greenhouse production system has aroused high concerns in China. Existing studies have investigated the status and determinants of agrochemicals overuse for greenhouse vegetables whereas little is known about whether the agrochemicals are allocated efficiently from economic perspective. We use a translog production function and the inputs and outputs data of vegetable production in 34 Chinese cities during 2004-2017 to calculate agrochemicals allocation efficiency for both open-field and greenhouse vegetables. We find that the agrochemicals are allocated inefficiently due to overuse for both open-field and greenhouse vegetables, whereas the overuse degree of chemical fertilizer used in greenhouse vegetables is lower than that of open-field vegetables during a growing duration. In addition, we also find that the application levels of agrochemicals for greenhouse vegetables per mu (15 mu=1 hectare) are higher than those of open-field vegetables, but the application levels of agrochemicals for per kilogram greenhouse vegetables are significantly lower. We conclude that the overuse of agrochemicals in greenhouse production system may attribute to the year-round production of greenhouse vegetables induced by economic incentives. Therefore, reducing the number of production rotations may be an effective method to alleviate the overuse of agrochemicals in greenhouse vegetables.

Automated summary

The overuse of agrochemicals in greenhouse vegetable production in China has led to low allocation efficiency from an economic perspective. While chemical fertilizers are used less excessively in greenhouse vegetables compared to open-field ones, the application levels of agrochemicals per mu are higher for greenhouse vegetables but significantly lower per kilogram. The year-round production of greenhouse vegetables incentivized by economic factors may be a key driver of agrochemical overuse, and reducing the number of production rotations could help alleviate this issue.