Abstract

Agricultural crop production is highly dependent upon environmental conditions among which air quality plays a central role. Various air pollutants have been identified to have a potential negative influence on commercial crops including SO2, NO2 y O3 . In particular, ozone in the lower atmosphere has been identified as the most serious cause of crop loss in the world. In this paper, agricultural benefits of ozone control are measured using a damage function approach. These benefit estimates are applied in the benefit estimation an environmental policy designed to reduce ozone concentration on baseline Mapocho river basin ozone levels. According to the results, the agricultural benefits of ozone control in the Mapocho river basin, in present value, are approximately US$173,7 millions, which correspond to an equivalent annual benefit of US$20,8 millions.