> I have become aware of two studies that have been concluded that have
> examined the effects of two pesticide use reduction scenarios: 50%
> reduction and 100% reduction. These were performed on fruit and
> vegetable crops and showed various declines in overall production,
> quality, increases in price, etc.
Although I am by no means an expert, or have any numbers relating to this,
my experience with these sorts of studies is that they make no attempt to
factor in the costs of restoring useless land after it has been raped by
chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, etc. Yes, it may cost less to produce
crops in this way - but only if you view the land (and their eco-systems)
as expendible.
Dave
P.S. I grow my own organic produce, and the quality is a 100% (or more)
improvement over commerically grown produce.