Characterization of Ground Water for Suitability as Insecticide Solvent for Insect Pest Management in Lower Sindh, Pakistan
Characterization of Ground Water for Suitability as Insecticide Solvent for Insect Pest Management in Lower Sindh, Pakistan
Kirshan Chand1, Fahad Nazir Khoso1*, Arfan Ahmed Gilal1, Abdul Mubeen Lodhi2, Agha Mushtaque Ahmed1, Ghulam Murtaza Jamro3, Sohail Ahmed Otho1 and Jamal-U-Din Hajano4
ABSTRACT
Though, the performance of insecticides depends on various factors (i.e. pests, insecticide formulation, entry route, mode of action, dosage, calibration and application timing) but one factor that doesn’t get much attention is the quality of the water used to spray the product which may reflect in the success of spray operation. To know the influence of water quality on pesticide performance, this study was proposed to evaluate the water sources used for mixing the insecticides prior to application. For this purpose, two districts of lower Sindh province i.e., Hyderabad and Tando Allahyar were selected with 20 samples from each district for assessing the carrier water quality. Samples were used for the measurement of electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), pH, cations including potassium (K+), calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), iron (Fe2+) and sodium (Na+). In anions, bicarbonate (HCO3−), carbonate (CO32−), chloride (Cl−), nitrate (NO3−) and sulphate (SO2-) were recorded. The Durov diagram was generated which delineated that the overall water samples fell under mixed zones, therefore, the groundwater found neither anion dominant nor cation dominant, but Na-Cl type. The results further revealed that 95% of water samples (38) were alkaline in nature and unfit for dilution purposes of insecticide including Abamectin, Cyromazine, Fluvalinate, Imidacloprid, Methiocarb and Spiromesifen. Moreover, all the samples were exceeding the permissible pH level of 4.0 to 6.5 required for the mixing of commonly used insecticide such as Acephate, Azadiachtin, Buprofezin, Fenpropathrin, Fenpyroximate, Flonicamid and Pyriproxyfen. Furthermore, there were 23 samples (58%) exceeding the required level (114-342) of hardness and 39 (98%) samples were unfit in terms of TSD levels (250 ppm). The results of the study can be concluded that the water of the study area was not suitable for insecticide dilution and the regular water quality testing is mandatory. The water pH should be maintained for performance of insecticides.
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