ECONOMICS OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Sustainable agriculture is prescribed as a policy approach that maximi zes economic benefits while maintaining environmental quality. It is a rgued that this approach is human capital-intensive and encourages new scientific developments. To attain sustainability, economic incentive s for the development and adoption of precision technologies (with min imal residues that cause environmental damage) have to be developed. T axation and tradeable permits are desirable policies to attain first-b est solutions; however, when heterogeneity and lack-of-information pro blems are significant, alternative institutions have to be developed. The paper presents and discusses such institutions.