Pesticide Residue Laboratory, Division of Soil Science & Agricultural Chemistry, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta, Bangalore-560089, India. dsharma@iihr.kar.nic.in
The horticultural ecosystem comprising of orchard soil and water bodies situated among the fruit, vegetable and food crops growing areas of North Bangalore was monitored periodically during 1999–2000 for pesticide residue contamination, after the harvests. Soil samples from grape orchards were detected with persistence of carbofuran residues and mango orchards with deltamethrin residues while vegetable growing field soils showed persistence of carbofuran, chlorpyriphos, dicofol and mancozeb residues in chilli fields; triazophos and monocrotophos in cabbage fields; carbofuran, quinalphos and monocrotophos in okra fields; quinalphos, chlorpyriphos and monocrotophos in tomato fields. HCH, DDT, dicofol, quinalphos, triazophos, chlorpyriphos in lake water samples, those of HCH, DDT, dicofol, triazophos, carbofuran and phorate in open well water samples were detected round the year. Bore well water samples were found to contain only a and b HCH residues. The extent of pesticide residues from all the water bodies however was below the prescribed MRL of all the pesticides.
Orchard soil, Water bodies, Pesticide residues
