Bacterial Growth Abilities in Carbofuran and Paraquat

Introduction: The norm of pesticides use is very crucial in protecting the agriculturalists’ venture in seeds, fertilizer and labour as they provide a sure protection from damage by pests. The use of pesticides is thus, unavoidable and the associated environmental contamination owing to these toxicants and their deposits will remain a concern.

Aim: The research aimed at isolating Carbofuran and Paraquat degrading bacterial species and assessing their growth capacities at different concentrations of these pesticides.

Study Design: Microcosms were set-up in test tubes in replicates (320 test tubes) and sacrificial sampling technique was adopted during growth test.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out at the Department of Environmental Management and Toxicology, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Delta State/Three months.

Methodology: Standard method was used to isolate Carbofuran and Paraquat degrading bacteria. Isolates were screened for their abilities to use Carbofuran and Paraquat as the only carbon source. Bacterial isolates were identified and subjected to the growth test at 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0% of Carbofuran (w/v) and Paraquat (v/v), respectively. Growth abilities were scored by turbidity and colour variations.

Results: The growth abilities at different pesticide’s concentrations were significantly different at P=.05.

Conclusion: This research revealed that the bacterial isolates were able to grow at various concentrations using these chemicals but best at 0.5% with higher growth rates in microcosms containing Paraquat. If these test microorganisms can grow in the presence of these toxicants, there is the likelihood that they maybe be able to reduce both Carbofuran and Paraquat hazards of contaminated areas. Thus, these bacteria can be used for the clean-up of these pesticides pollution in farms to ameliorate the problems of pesticide pollution in environment.