Persistence of Cadusafos in Alluvial Soil under Tomato Crop

Cadusafos, an organophosphate, was applied as broadcast @ 2.0 kg ha⁻¹ and furrow treatments @ 0.5 and 1.0 kg ha⁻¹ at the time of transplanting of one month old tomato seedlings of different varieties such as Pusa Ruby, Pusa Nemamukt, Pusa Gaurav, Pusa Sheetal, Pusa Early Dwarf and Mangla hybrid. Analysis of soil samples at different time intervals revealed that the residues of cadusafos persisted for 120 days when broadcasted and 90–120 days when applied in furrows. When broadcasted @ 2.0 kg ha⁻¹, the half-life of cadusafos in soil was 24.5 d whereas when applied in furrows, the half-life was 31.3 d at lower rate (0.5 kg ha⁻¹) and 17.7 d at higher rate (1.0 kg ha⁻¹). As the residues of cadusafos in soil after 120 days were non-detectable to trace levels, apparently there will not be any adverse effect on the soil environment due to its soil application even up to 2.0 kg ha⁻¹.