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Agronomic practices such as fertilizer application or seed rates have been known to affect rice pests and damage, but the evidence is often blurred in studies on pest management decisions and invisible in studies on pesticide lock-in. Combined agronomic practices and pesticide use may create technological lock-in, occurring when the combination has accumulated advantages over time which encourages its continued use, even if better options are available. We present results from a survey among farmers (N = 400) from five provinces in Cambodia. We asked about field-level, agronomic practices and applied a regression analysis to determine whether these practices affect pesticide application. Farmers from the selected provinces produce rice intensively, particularly those in provinces in the Mekong Delta where a percentage of farmers would aim for three crops per year.

Cambodian farmers in the five …