TITLE:
Microbe—Chloroacetanilide Herbicide Interaction across Soil Type
AUTHORS:
Sutapa Paul, Arunabha Chakravarty, Prasanta Kumar Patra, Niladri Paul, Premasis Sukul, Debatosh Mukherjee
KEYWORDS:
Alluvial Soil, Lateritic Soil, Coastal Soil, Bacteria, Fungi, Butachlor, Persistence
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Soil Science,
Vol.5 No.4,
April
14,
2015
ABSTRACT: An investigation
was carried out under laboratory conditions to study the persistence of butachlor
applied at recommended dose (2 kg ai/ha) along with its impact on microbial
activity as well as growth of colonial bacteria and fungi in alluvial (Typic Haplaquent), lateritic (Typic Haplustalf) and coastal (Typic Haplaquept) soils. Butachlor
caused a significant increment in microbial activity following an initial diminution
in between 10 to 22 days of incubation depending on the type of soil. The
herbicide resulted in a significant shrinkage in bacterial community during
later stages of incubation in lateritic and coastal soils in spite of a
significant swelling on the 15th day in lateritic and alluvial
soils. Fungal community significantly expanded at the initial stage in
lateritic soil and during later stages in alluvial soil by the application of butachlor
but shriveled during later stages in the lateritic soil, intermediate stage in
coastal soil and initial stages in alluvial soil. Alluvial soil reared the
highest population of colonial bacteria and exhibited highest microbial activity
while coastal soil significantly pressed them down to the lowest. However,
lateritic soil was the best niche for fungal community. Co-metabolism was the
main phenomenon in butachlor metabolism particularly in coastal soil, though
zymogenous microbes including bacteria and fungi also participated in both
lateritic and alluvial soil at certain stages. The persistence of butachlor was
the lowest in alluvial soil followed by lateritic and coastal soil,
respectively. Among the soil types application of butachlor is safe in alluvial
soil.