Effect of Some Pesticides on Fungal Biomass of Agricultural Soil

A study has been conducted under laboratory and field condition to determine the effects of different concentrations of different pesticides i.e., Chlorpyrifos, Dimethoate and MEMC on total number and diversity of soil fungi. Both, the laboratory and field studies revealed that all the pesticides inhibited the fungal population in soil. MEMC significantly inhibited the growth of greatest number of fungi at all the concentrations even at field application followed by Chlorpyrifos. Whereas Dimetheoate has no significant effect on soil fungi both in the laboratory and the field trial. In the field experiment, effect was reduced at 25 day after application of all the pesticides.