COST ASSESSMENT OF VARIOUS MEANS OF AVERTING ENVIRONMENTAL-DAMAGE ANDGROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION FROM NITRATE SEEPAGE

Fertilizers are used in addition to irrigation water to increase soil fertility and productivity, but cropped areas are sources of groundwat er contamination due to loads of nitrates carried downwards by seepage of excess water. The public is increasingly aware of the grave proble ms of environmental damage caused by groundwater pollution, These envi ronmental effects are not considered by farmers, whose production moti vation is to get high profits, and there is a clash of interests betwe en the farmers and the state. Consideration of environmental issues ca n be imposed on farmers by constraints on resources or by pricing of i nputs, We compare the interests involved and assess the possibilities open to both the individual and the state. Hence, we quantify the agri cultural inputs required and suggest appropriate administrative and pr icing methods to control resultant damages. These are estimated by mea ns of a linear-programming based-optimization model applied to the sou thern region of Israel. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.