Pesticides Report 38. Pesticide fate in tropical soils (Technical Report)

Abstract

Pesticide use is an important component of agricultural and non-agricultural pest control in tropical areas. However, the fate of pesticides in tropical soils is not as well understood as that for soils from temperate regions. Tropical soils defy easy generalizations, but they are typically very old soils characterized by year-round uniformity of temperature regime. Although only a few studies have directly compared pesticide fate in tropical and temperate soils, there is no evidence that pesticides degrade more slowly under tropical conditions. Laboratory studies in which soils have been held under standardized conditions reveal that pesticide degradation rate and pathway are comparable between tropical and temperate soils. However. field investigations of tropical pesticide soil fate indicate that dissipation occurs more rapidly, in some cases much more rapidly, than for pesticides used under similar temperate conditions. The most prominent mechanisms for this acceleration in pesticide dissipation appear to be related to the effect of tropical climates, and would include increased volatility and enhanced chemical and microbial degradation rates on an annualized basis.