Introduction
For many decades, pesticide (insecticide, fungicide and weedicide) and fertilizers have played an imperative role in improving agricultural productivity, but their adverse affects on the sustainability of natural resources (environment and ground water etc) has been largely ignored. The present study attempts to estimate the environmental efficiency indices of environmentally detrimental variables by employing a translog stochastic production frontier approach in vegetable production. Pesticide cost and active nutrients of fertilizer (NPK) are treated as environmentally detrimental variables. The input-output data from 140 freshwater and 135 wastewater farmers are collected from two major vegetable producing districts (Gujranwala and Faisalabad) of Pakistan’s Punjab province in 2010. The mean technical efficiency indices in wastewater and freshwater area are 74 and 91 percent, respectively. The environmental efficiency indices of active nutrients of fertilizer (NPK) in wastewater and freshwater areas are 14 and 69 percent while the environmental efficiency indices of pesticide cost are 47 and 43 percent, respectively. This implies that substantial reduction (86 percent) in active nutrients of fertilizer in wastewater is possible while more than 50 percent reduction in pesticide cost can be made both in wastewater and freshwater areas by maintaining the revenue at maximum achievable level. The reduction in pesticide cost and active nutrients of fertilizer NPK is Rs.568 and Rs.1850 per acre in wastewater area while in freshwater area it is Rs.451.5 and Rs.1525.2 per acre, respectively. However, total saving at the province level from the reduction in pesticide cost both in wastewater and freshwater areas is Rs.314.5 million but from active nutrients of fertilizer is Rs.1060.9 million. The saving from the reduction in fertilizer use is more than three times the saving from the reduction in pesticide use. Our empirical findings demonstrate that safe vegetable for consumption (with fewer chemicals) together with reduction in environmental pollution and higher level of profitability through reduction in cash input use is achievable.
