pricing of environmental friendly herbicides appropriate for sustainable agriculture, a case study: wheat farmers in khorasan razavi province

awareness of wheat farmers’ personal preferences towards environmental issues and weed types is important in pricing bioherbicides for sustainable weed management and could consequently be a fundamental guide to agricultural authorities and policy-makers. in the present study, a survey was carried out by using data collected from 180 wheat farmers of korasan razavi province during 2008, together with hedonic pricing method. the role of environmental qualitative factors and weed type on pricing environmental-friendly herbicides on the basis of “willingness to pay” was studied. results from the estimation of hedonic pricing method indicated that reduction of water pollution, human health risk, farmers information about negative effects of chemical herbicides and the virtual variable of weed type had significant effects on pricing environmental friendly herbicides. variables of soil pollution and weed perenniality had no significant effects on pricing herbicide applicable to sustainable agricultural systems. based on the results of this study, possibilities of using bioherbicide or less pollutant herbicides and also the rate of farmers willingness to pay for alternatives in the region are important factors recommended for additional studies