Persistence of Cadusafos in Soil of Banana Orchard Under Different Environmental Conditions

Abstract

The present study was conducted to follow up the residues of one example of an organophosphate nematicide recommended for controlling nematodes and soil insects namely cadusafos (rugby 10%G). The experiment was done in banana orchard to study the persistence of cadusafos in sandy loam soil and banana fruits. The effect of hydrogen ion concentration, thermal and photolytic conditions on the persistence of cadusafos was studied. It was found that the initial deposit of cadusafos in the soil was 66.49 ppm and the half-life period was 10.83 days. The results confirmed that the banana fruits can be used safely at any time after the application of the recommended dose of rugby 10% G. The higher stability of cadusafos was found under the two chosen temperatures (30 and 40 0 C). The half-life periods of cadusafos were 8.45 and 5.33 days under the conditions of UV-rays and sunlight, respectively. The alkaline medium showed a great effect on the persistence of cadusafos especially at higher temperature. In contrary, the neutral medium (pH 7) was less effective on the persistence of cadusafos.