No abstract

The escalating food demand to feed the incessantly mounting world population has put a lot of pressure on our already over burdened agricultural system. The urge to cultivate more food has made us reliant on supplementary use of agrochemicals like pesticides and fertilizers. Unsystematic use of agrochemicals has amplified the production of crops but it has also posed rigorous hazards to environment because it has contaminated the natural resources, like groundwater. The groundwater resources are vulnerable to pollution, the occurrence of pesticide residues in the groundwater resources (water located beneath the soil's surface) constitutes a global problem worldwide, especially in the least developed countries where the use of plant protection products is very high. For the development of microbial originated pesticides, which Chapter contents Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10 Pesticides as groundwater contaminants ...………………………………………………………………….. 11 Transportation of pesticides to groundwater ……………………………………………………………. 13 Pesticide in groundwater and allied hazards ……………………………………………………………. 15 Antagonistic effects of pesticide (herbicide) application on non-target plants ………………………. 16 Health-based guideline values for pesticide residues in potable water ………………………………. 17 Fertilizers as groundwater contaminants …………………………………………………………………… 17 Health hazards related with nitrate in groundwater ……………………………………………………. 18 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 19 References ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 19 10 are valuable, dependable and have a low environmental risk there seems to be a great potential. Also, novel application techniques, such as exactitude band spraying, can decrease the dose, which can be an extremely successful way to minimize transport and emanation and in addition can avoid a build-up of confrontation in target organisms. Enhanced formulations will besides be required to decrease off-target deposition, recover withholding on target, and augment uptake and translocation. The book chapter deals with the contributory approach of agrochemicals to contamination of ground water.