Chapter 11. G. A. Norton, G. R. Conway. 1977. The economic and social context of pest, disease and weed problems. Pages 205-226. In: J. M. Cherrett, G. R. Sagar. Origins of Pest, Parasite, Disease and Weed Problems. The 18th Symposium of the British Ecological Society, Bangor, 12-14 April 1976, 413 pages.

Keywords: pests as natural hazards, the pest problem, frequencies of desert locusts in India and Pakistan, adaptation to pest attack, features that reduce the attractiveness of the crop, weeded versus weedy, the decision problem, technical methods of crop protection, adoption of insecticides by rice farmers in San Bartolome, Philippines, development of market valuation, the game against nature, the relationship between crop value and pesticide expenditure, pesticide resistance, the analysis of specific pest problems, change agroecosystem structure, increase in available control measures, improve decision rules, decision models in pest control, economic thresholds, decision rules, the value of decision models