Impact of Imidacloprid on Soil Fertility and Nodulation in Mung bean (Vigna radiata)

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Kaur, Amrit | Kaur, Amarjeet

Affiliations: School of Environment Management, Indraprastha University, Delhi-110006, India

Note: [] Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: An experiment was conducted at the research farm of Delhi University to study the impact of imidachloprid (chloronicotinyl insecticide) on the physico- chemical and microbial parameters of soil fertility along with nodulation in mung bean while using it as a seed treatment @ 140 ga.i./100 kg of mung seeds. Soil samples were collected from the control and imidachloprid treated mung bean field on the day of sowing (0 days) and after every 30 days till the time of harvesting (90 days) of the crop. Soil pH and organic carbon was not found to be significantly different for the control and treated field throughout the experimental period. Dehydrogenase activity was also not impaired owing to imidacloprid application in treated mung field. Soil microbial community structure studied through classical plate count method showed temporary inhibition of bacterial and actinomycetes population at the 60 days after the treatment. However, the fungal and Azotobacter population was not found to be impaired due to imidachloprid application. Furthermore, the nodulation was also found to be severely inhibited in the treated field as compared to control one and this inhibitory effect was irretrievable.

Keywords: Soil fertility, soil microbial community structure, nodulation, imidachloprid, mung bean

Journal: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 63-67, 2005