Intensity of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Practices Adoption by U.S. Nursery Crop Producers

We examined the intensity of integrated pest management (IPM) techniques adoption by U.S. nursery crop producers using parametric and nonparametric methods. We used data collected from 2009 National Nursery Survey to identify effects of variables associated with nursery producers on the number of IPM techniques used. Our results indicated that Pacific and Southeast regions, sales of trees, year farm was established, and number of trade shows were positively related to the number of IPM techniques adopted, whereas sale volume of trees/shrubs and foliage had opposite effects. We found a nonparametric specification superior compared to a parametric specification in IPM intensity analysis.