1National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Mumbai 400 018, MS, India
2Division of Agricultural chemicals, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110 012, India
*Corresponding author E-mail: tandon.shalini@gmail.com
Online published on 21 May, 2012.
The effect exerted by fipronil, a phenylpyrazole insecticide on dehydrogenase activity of three diverse soils was assessed at recommended doses of fipronil (50 and 75 g a.i. per hectare). The soils used were Inceptisol, Mollisol, and Aridisol with different physico-chemical properties as each soil type is expected to respond differently to the addition of any foreign, potentially toxic compound. There was an initial adverse effect on the dehydrogenase activity. Different soils exhibited different rates of recovery of the activity in a period of 28 days of application with highest recovery rate obtained in Inceptisol (99 and 100%) followed by Mollisol (94 and 97%) and Aridisol (77 and 93%) at higher and lower dose of the pesticide, respectively.
Soil, dehydrogenase activity, fipronil, Inceptisol, Mollisol, Aridisol
