DROSOPHRISK
Background
Risk and risk management are crucial aspects of agricultural production. In particular, producers of special crops are exposed to high pest pressure. In recent years, especially the risk of infestation with spotted-wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) has become a significant problem in Swiss fruit and wine production. The strategies taken by farmers to cope with these risks differ largely across time and space, ranging from preventive to control strategies. The choice of strategies is of importance for farmers as well as for up- and downstream companies, consumers and can have environmental impacts, e.g. if pesticides are used. Farm specific decisions are determined by various farm- and farmer-specific characteristics. To improve the efficiency of extension and develop better policies to cope with these risks, a better understanding of these determinants of heterogeneous behavior in response to spotted-wing drosophila is required.
Objectives
The objective of this project is to identify the determinants of risk management behavior in the context of spotted-wing drosophila in Swiss fruit and wine production. More specifically, we aim to identity the relevance of farm, farmer and household specific characteristics as well as the effects of specific extension services and communication tools. Furthermore, a particular emphasis is laid on aspects of farmers’ risk perception and risk preferences. To this end, different elicitation methods will be employed. We conduct surveys with producers of different crops (wine, cherries, plums and berries,) in three language regions of Switzerland. These surveys are repeated over three years (starting in 2016), enabling the creation of rich panel data sets. Thus, also the effects of experiencing losses on risk perception, risk preferences and risk management behavior can be investigated. By including different risk preference elicitation methods this project aims identify which method pertains best to real farmer risk behavior. The interaction and immediate feedback to producers, extension services and various actors along the value chain is an essential element of this project.
Involved Groups: Agricultural Economics and Policy (ETH Zurich), external page Institute for Plant Production Sciences (Agroscope)
Contact: Prof. Robert Finger (), Ladina Knapp (), Esther Bravin ()
Drosophila suzukii: external page Link
Funding: Federal Office for Agriculture & Task Force Drosophila suzukii (Agroscope)
Funding Period: 2016-2019
Publications
Articles
Mazzi, D., Bravin, E., Meraner, M., Finger, R. Kuske, S. (2017). Economic Impact of the Introduction and Establishment of Drosophila suzukii on Sweet Cherry Production in Switzerland. Insects 8(1), 18; external page >>
Knapp, L. , Mazzi, D. and Finger, R. (2019), Management strategies against Drosophila suzukii: insights into Swiss grape growers choices. Pest. Manag. Sci., 75: 2820-2829. external page >>
Knapp, L., Bravin, E. and Finger, R. (2019), Data on Swiss fruit and wine growers’ management strategies against D. suzukii, risk preference and perception, Data in Brief, Volume 24, external page >>
Knapp, L., Mazzi, D., Finger, R. (2020). The economic impact of Drosophila suzukii: perceived costs and revenue losses of Swiss cherry, plum and grape growers. Pest Management Science. external page >>
Knapp, L., Wuepper, D., Finger, R. (2021). Preferences, personality, aspirations, and farmer behavior. Agricultural Economics 52(6): external page >>
Knapp, L., Dalhaus, T., Wüpper, D., Finger, R. (2021). Revisiting the diversification and insurance relationship: Differences between on- and off-farm strategies. Climate Risk Management 32, 100315 external page >>
Knapp, L., Finger, R. (2020). Determinanten des Risikomanagements in der Schweizer Landwirtschaft am Beispiel von D. suzukii. ETH Zürich, Gruppe für Agrarökonomie und -politik. Projektbericht zu Händen des Bundesamts für Landwirtschaft >>
Wuepper, D., Roleff, N., Finger, R. (2020). Does it Matter Who Advises Farmers? Pest Management Choices with Public and Private Extension. Food Policy. external page >>
Blog Contributions
Agrarpolitik Blog (2016) external page Risikomanagement gegen die Kirchessigfliege.
Agrarpolitik Blog, (2019) external page Stratégies de gestion contre la Drosophila suzukii: informations sur les choix des viticulteurs suisses.
Knapp et al. (2020) external page L’impact économique de Drosophila suzukii en Suisse: les coûts et les pertes de revenus perçus des producteurs suisses de cerises, de prunes et de raisins.
Knapp et al. (2021) external page Préferences, personalité, aspirations et comportement des agricultrices et agriculteurs.
Knapp et al. (2021) external page Réévaluation de la relation entre diversification et assurance: Différences entre les stratégies sur l'exploitation et hors exploitation.
Ladina Knapp (2020) external page Stratégies de gestion des risques et de lutte contre les ravageurs des productrices et producteurs de fruits en Suisse: facteurs comportementaux et économiques.
Wüpper et al. (2020) external page Unterschiede in Schädlingsbekämpfungsstrategien abhängig von Beratung und Information aus öffentlicher und privater Hand.
The data collected in this project can be found here ETH (Link to ETH Research collection)