Effects of Pesticide Application on the Growth of Soil Nitrifying Bacteria

Abstract

This research studied the effects of pesticide application on the growth of soil nitrifying bacteria. Nitrosomonas sp. was isolated from the Soil samples gotten from five different locations within the University of Benin, Benin City and cultured using Winogradsky medium. The bacterial isolate was characterized and identified based on its cultural, morphological and biochemical characteristics. After 4 to 5 days of growth, Nitrosomonas Counts obtained from Winogradsky medium ranged from 4.8×10 3 to 9.2×10 3 cfu/g. There was an increase in bacteria growth at lower pesticide concentration which began to decrease as the pesticide concentration increased with time. The percentage nitrite accumulation gradually decreased with time, the LC50 values were higher than EC50 values which shows that the bacteria could survive and grow at lower pesticide concentrations but were completely inhibited at higher pesticide concentrations. It is therefore very important to examine pesticides so as to determine its toxicity to soil bacteria before application.

Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons Levels and Bacterial Load on Soil after Consistent Disposal of Untreated Hairdressing Saloon Effluent in Lokoja, Kogi State, Nigeria

“…and Escherichia coli. This analysis agrees with (Baath, 1989;Udochukwu et al, 2018;Udochukwu et al, 2021). The low occurrence of Klebsiella can be attributed to the high Chlorine content of saloon wastewater, as Chlorine is bactericidal to enteric bacteria (Ajuzie and Osaghae, 2011;Atuanya et al, 2016a).The physiochemical analysis of the wastewater sample had a pH of 6.82.…”