The study investigates farmers' perceptions of pests, pest control practices and their Willingness to Pay (WTP) for a new biopesticide in Ghana. The survey results suggest a rising trend in vegetable pest intensity with significant variation in farmers' pest control practices, especially their choice of pesticide(s). Farmers are willing to pay a substantial price premium for improved agricultural environmental safety and cost reduction or yield enhancing benefits of a new biopesticide. Farmers' perception that vegetable pest intensity is increasing, and their experience in farming and with the use of Dipel, a biopesticide, are identified to be the statistically significant determinants of farmers' WTP for the new biopesticide. Evidence of farmers trying out other biopesticides or botanical products is an indication that there is good market potential for new biopesticides, although the market growth is likely to be slow. However, existing pest control practices combined with other results of this study indicate a need for enhanced and targeted education of farmers on the use of alternative pest control methods. Other recommendations include intensifying current initiatives geared at reducing the misuse of chemical pesticides, education of specific target groups, increased promotion of botanical products such as neem extracts, and wider dissemination of biological control and integrated pest management techniques.

Conventional vegetable crop production is characterized by a reliance on chemical inputs to protect crops against disease and pest pressures. The use of synthetic chemical pesticides in Ghana dates back to 1957, when Gammalin 20 was used to control cocoa capsids (Thiam, 2000). Today, chemical pesticide use is the most popular method of controlling pests. Chemical pesticides are perceived as a remedy that is cheap, quick acting and produces direct results (Blay et al., 2000; and Gerken et al., 2000). Use of chemical pesticides is more rampant among commercially-oriented farmers than subsistence farmers (Critchley, 1996; and Gerken et al., 2000). In Ghana, the main target crops for pesticides are vegetables, legumes, cocoa, coffee, pineapple and cotton. Vegetables (cabbage, tomato, green beans, aubergine, carrots and cucumber) in particular, attract a high number of pests and therefore require the most intensive application of pesticides.

Such conventional agricultural practices produce considerable negative side effects (Pimentel and Greiner, 1997) that have implications for the environment and health safety of farmers and consumers, as well as the farmland biodiversity. Consequently the ecological sustainability of conventional production systems is a concern to many, while consumer awareness of pesticide use in agriculture also raises concerns related to food safety and/ or environmental health (Cranfield and Magnusson, 2003). Govindasamy and Italia (1998) have argued that the growing theoretical and political significance of the literature on agro-environmental regulations, campaigns for pesticide and fertilizer reduction, and assessment of the associated economic costs, provide evidence of growing concerns about these externalities. For example, increasing awareness of governments and consumers about pesticide-related food safety, and the changing social preferences toward environmentally sustainable agriculture have resulted in several studies on consumers' Willingness to Pay (WTP) for reducing the potential impact of pesticide use on human health and the environment (Foster and Mourato, 2000; and Mourato et al., 2000).

Agricultural Economics Journal, Biopesticides, Botanical Products, Pest Management Techniques, Chemical Pesticides, Conventional Vegetable Crop Production, Conventional Production Systems, Environmental Protection, Risk Reduction, Neoclassical Consumer Theory, Contingent Valuation Method, Agrochemical Companies.