Journal of Environmental Biology

Changes in soil faunal pattern as influenced by novel insecticides in Assam

G. Nath¹, S. Bhagawati²*, P.K. Kaman³, K. Sarmah⁴, B. Gogoi⁵ and N.S. Manpoong²     

¹Divisional Forest Office, Tezpur-784 027, India

²Department of Entomology, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat-785 013, India

³Department of Plant Pathology, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat-785 013, India

⁴Department of Biochemistry and Agricultural Chemistry, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat-785 013, India

⁵Department of Soil Science, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat-785 013, India

Received: 21 May 2024                   Revised: 07 October 2024                   Accepted: 11 November 2024

*Corresponding Author Email : sudhansubhagawati@gmail.com                  *ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9440-5425

Abstract

Aim: Studying the influence of certain novel insecticides on soil faunal communities.

Methodology: Soil micro and macroarthropods, total bacterial and fungal population as well as the key soil enzyme activities were studied prior to and after application of insecticides at every 15 days interval to establish their impact.

Results: Prior to the application of insecticides, Hymenoptera was recorded to be the most dominant order (54.74%) among the soil macroarthropods followed by Coleoptera (13.68%) and Araneae (11.57%) whereas Collembola and Oribatida were recorded as soil microarthropods registering 64.72 and 35.28 per cent, respectively. All the insecticidal treatments recorded a significant reduction (p=0.05) in the soil macroarthropod, bacterial and fungal population as well as soil enzymatic activities up to 75 days of application indicating the detrimental effects of insecticides as compared to the untreated plots, which showed more stable habitats for the soil fauna. On the contrary, the insecticidal treatments did not exhibit any significant impact (p=0.05) on the population of soil microarthropods during the study period.

Interpretation: Adoption of ecofriendly pest management practices relying on balance dose of insecticides with proper application methodologies may give insight in maintaining the ecological balance of soil biota in agroecosystems.

Key words: Chlorantraniliprole, Collembola, Insecticides, Soil biota 

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