PESTICIDE RESEARCH INSTITUTE

SARC, Karachi

 

INTRODUCTION
This institute is providing pesticide quality assurance facility and pesticide residues analysis in food commodities as and when required by the public& private agencies/ organizations, pesticide firms, exporters and individuals. The institute is also engaged in pesticides toxicological studies on insect, fungi, etc.
 

FACILITIES
PRI has basic facilities for pathological and entomological studies, pesticide residue analysis, pesticides toxicological testing. .
 

OBJECTIVES/FOCUS OF INSTITUTE

• To assist the GoP in the implementation of provision of the agricultural pesticide ordinance of 1971 and the rules framed there under.

• To determine quality of pesticides on samples referred to the laboratory by public and private sectors and individual farmers.

• To conduct studies on residues of pesticides in fruits, vegetable, other agricultural commodities, human blood and milk of cotton pickers.

• To carry out toxicological investigations for determining impact of pesticides on eco-system, species specificity of pesticide and causes of resistance.
   

Current Research Activities

• Survey to collect information on awareness of general public about pesticide use and hazards in Karachi city: (Dr. Tahir Anwar, PSO)

• Detailed project proposal entitled “Screening of different flora for their insecticidal activities against mealy bug species on okra” under RADP was prepared and submitted for onward transmission to concerned quarters.

• (Muhammad Iqbal Khuhro, SSO & Muhammad Samiullah, SO)

• Residual toxicity of some insecticides against non-target insects on ber:

• (Muhammad Samiullah, SO)

• “Cultivation of bio-fuel plants on marginal lands in Pakistan”. RADP-Sub Projects: (Team Member – Muhammad Samiullah, SO)

• Determination the efficacy of fungicides and bio-pesticide to control the seed borne pathogen of three varieties of okra seed varieties:

 

Salient Research, Results/Findings
Washing effects on residues of pesticide in salad vegetables:
The salad vegetables samples 200 (carrot, salad, radish, tomato cucumber, coriander, mint and sugar beat) grown on vast areas n Sindh especially in Thatta, Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, Badin and Malir in Karachi were analyzed by gas chromatograph (GC) after and before washing with water. These vegetables are not only consumed locally but are exported to different countries especially to Europe, Far East and Middle East and help earn foreign exchange of more than 10 million rupees. Pakistan has already signed WTO and in the near future we would not be able to grow efficiently these vegetables in the pesticide free environment which would mean that the present technique of washing would help us in our export and comply with WTO restrain to some extent. From 16% to 6g4% average reduction in residues of different pesticides were calculated. A significant reduction (6-100%) in residues was observed in vegetables (carrot, radish, tomato, cucumber, coriander, mint and sugar beat). Moreover, a positive correlation (1.2=0.61) was observed between reduction in residues and pesticides’s solubility in water (mg/L) i.e. deltamethrin (DEL), fenitrothion (FEN), cypermethrin (CYP), profenofos (PRO) and malathion (MAL).
 

Percent reduction of pesticides residues in salad vegetables after washing with water

S. No.	Commodities	Pesticides
		CYP	DEL	PRO	MAL	FEN	Mean
1	Carrot, Daucus carota L. (12)	8	32	25	-	-	22
2	Salad, Lactuca sativa L. (14)	100	-	100	100	-	100
3	Radish, Rhaphanus sativus L. (14)	24	-	31	10	11	19
4	Tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum (Mill) (16)	23	-	-	17	8	23
5	Cucumber, Cucumis sativus (16)	-	-	14	-	25	28
6	Coriander, Coriandrum sativum Linn. (10)	11	-	-	-	-	11
7	Mint, Mentha pipprata L. (10)	20	-	-	-	-	20
8	Sugar beat, Beta vulgaris L. (10)	6	-	-	-	-	6
	Mean	27	32	43	64	15

 

Note: CYP stand for cypermethrin, DEL for deltamethrin, PRO for profenofos, MAL for malathion and FEN for fenitrothion. Values in the parenthesis are the total number of vegetable samples analyzed.
 

Determination of pesticide, nitrate and arsenic in Ground water of Sindh:
In the present study pesticides, Arsenic and Nitrate were analyzed in the ground water samples collected from the different districts of Sindh. Endosulfan was found above the MAC level (Maximum Acceptable Concentration) 0.1µg L-1 for single pesticides and chlorpyrifos was found below the MAC level as defined by the Economic European Countries (EEC). Nitrate and arsenic were below the National Environmental Quality Standard (NESQS) i.e. 50mg L-1 and 10µg L-1, respectively. A highly significant correlation of endosulfan with arsenic )r=0.94) and nitrate (r=0.95) was recorded followed by moderate correlation of nitrate with arsenic (r=0.52), chlorpyrifos (r=0.51) and between arsenic and chlorpyrifos (r=0.50) by t-test at 8 degrees of freedom.
 

S. No.	Commodities	Pesticides
		CYP	DEL	PRO	MAL	FEN	Mean
1	Carrot, Daucus carota L. (12)	8	32	25	-	-	22
2	Salad, Lactuca sativa L. (14)	100	-	100	100	-	100
3	Radish, Rhaphanus sativus L. (14)	24	-	31	10	11	19
4	Tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum (Mill) (16)	23	-	-	17	8	23
5	Cucumber, Cucumis sativus (16)	-	-	14	-	25	28
6	Coriander, Coriandrum sativum Linn. (10)	11	-	-	-	-	11
7	Mint, Mentha pipprata L. (10)	20	-	-	-	-	20
8	Sugar beat, Beta vulgaris L. (10)	6	-	-	-	-	6
	Mean	27	32	43	64	15

 

Toxicological studies of garlic and neem oil against mealy bug:
Garlic and neem oil when applied at 1.0%, 0.1% and 0.01% against 3rd instar larvae of mealy bug resulted in 30% and 20% mortalities at 1% solution respectively. Whenever as, no mortalities were recorded at other tested concentration i.e. 0.1% and 0.01% after 24 hours of treatment. Similarly no mortality was recorded in control (without treatment) and check (treated with solution containing emulsifiable agent). Whereas, time course studies on toxicity of garlic and neem oil resulted in 30% mortality after 48 hours of treatment followed by 40% and 30% after 72 hours of treatment. Whereas 10-20% mortality was recorded after 72 hours of treatment at 0.1 and 0.01% concentration at both the treatment when applied on mealy bug.

 

Survey to collect information on awareness of general public about pesticide use and hazards in Karachi city

Students of Entomology, Department of Zoology, University of Karachi are involved to collect information on a pre-designed questionnaire. Survey will be conducted in 18 towns of Karachi (This survey work is in progress).
 

Population fluctuation studies of insect pests of vegetable crops at SARC experimental field
Incidence of insect pest associated with okra in Karachi was the objective of study. Therefore, three varieties of okra, namely Shahzadi, Green Star, and Sabz Pari were grown at SARC experimental field, Karachi. Okra was sown in June and pest scouting was started after okra plants were month old and continued at the interval of ten days till crop completely harvested/matured. During monitoring, it was found that only Jassids were present on all varieties under studies. The mean population of Jassids per leaf per plant was presented in the table below.

 

Mean population of Jassids per leaf per plant on okra

 

Days after Sowing	Jassids/leaf/plant
	Shahzadi	Green Star	Sabz Pari
30	7.13	5.66	4.2
40	7.9	9.0	9.0
50	9.0	9.3	11.1
60	11.1	11.5	15.5
70	9.2	14.5	10.9

 

Study on residual toxicity of some insecticides against non-target insects on ber
Ber, Ziziphus mauritiana orchard at SARC experimental field, Karachi was monitored throughout the year for insect pest, predators, parasitoids and pollinators. All parts of ber trees, i.e. trunk, branches, leaves, flower and fruits were inspected during the study and it was found that leaf eating beetle were present during July and August on leaves only. Similarly, four coleopteran, four dipterans and two hymenopterans insects species were detected on flowers and ber fruitfly was found infesting on fruits during November (2%) and December (26%) respectively. But, predator and parasitoid insect species were not detected in the field as well as infested ber fruits kept in the laboratory.
 

“Cultivation of biofuel plants on marginal lands in Pakistan” (RADP Sub-Project)
 

Physical Analysis of Jatropha seeds of different origin

• Germplasm—seed, and cuttings of Jatropha were collected through surveys conducted in the suburbs of Karachi and other areas of Sindh. Jatropha seed of African, Indian, Malaysian, and Thailand origins were also purchased from local supplier. Seed were obtained from farmers field near the Saleh Memon Goth (village) Karachi. The physical analysis shows that the African, Malaysian Indian origin is relatively superior than Thailand origin in the above mentioned parameters.

 

Origin	Weight of 1000 seeds (grams)	Length of 1 seed (av. of 20) mm	Test weight (kg/hl)
Thailand	574	16.5	39.3
Malaysian	642	17.5	42.0
Indian	610	17.0	41.0
African	640	17.6	43.2

• The best performance of Jatropha curcas plantation at 2 meters spacing for row to row and plant to plant was found to accommodate 2500 plants /ha at farmers field. The best sowing time, for low rainfall areas, is pre-monsoon. However, seed sown in nursery during March and April shows best germination time. About 1 kg good quality seed is sufficient for raising one acre nursery raising where as the best seeding depth was found to be 2 to 3 cm. for germination. For the raising nursery of Sukh chain, Pongamia pinnata in poly bags are essential therefore for Jatropha it is time consuming and costly as compared to mat bed with dibbling techniques. Nitrogen increases the vegetative growth while phosphorus and potassium increases the fruiting and seed yield per plant. Flood irrigation increases the collar rot in Jatropha plant while Sukhchain required sufficient quantity of water as compared to Castor. In the February Jatropha plantation fruiting was observed after 8 months period. On an average flowering and fruiting bunch of Jatropha bears 10 to 15 capsules on Thailand origin variety.

• About 1500 seedling of Such Chain Pongamia pinnata were raised and about 100 seedlings were planted at SARC field. It is often planted as an ornamental and shade tree.

• About 50 acres of castor DS-30 was planted at farmer field near Gharo along the National Highway Karachi –Thatta.
   

Studies on the efficacy of chemical and non chemical treatments to control mycoflora associated with chili seed
Total 19 genera and 39 species were isolated by ISTA technique (standard blotter and deep freezing method) from chili seeds. Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, A. fumigatus, Alternaria alternata, Drechslera hawiinesis, Fusarium moniliforme, F. oxysporum and F. solani were more frequently isolated. Seed treatments with eight fungicides viz., Metalaxyl + Mancozeb (72 % w/w), Mancozeb (80% w/w), Aliette (80% WP), Derosol (60% WP), Ridomyl Gold (68% WP), Thiophonate methyl (70% WP), Antracol (70%WP), Copperoxychlorite (50% WP) and four seed powders of herbicides viz., asafetida (Ferula assafoetida), black cumin (Nigella sativa), neem ( Azadirachta indica ) and mustard ( Brassica campestris) were used @0.5%, 0.15% & 0.25% . Out of these eight fungicides; Ridomyl Gold @ 0.15 & 0.25% inhibited the growth of all fungi whereas asafetida and Nigella sativa powder @0.25% were found to be more efficacious however showed little fungicidal activity toward Fusarium moniliforme.
 

In Pakistan chilli (Capsicum annum) is an important vegetable crop., planted over an estimated area of 64.6 thousand hectors with an annual production of 122.9 thousand tones, with an average yield of 1902 kg/ha (Anon, 2006 ). Chilli is susceptible to several diseases including root and collar rot produces by Phytophthora capsici (Ahmed et al., 1989; Saleem et al., 1996; 1998.,; Hussain et al.,1990; Than et al., 2008). Anthracnose or die-back and fruit rot caused by Collectotrichum spp., (Sultana et al., 1992; Khaleeque & Khan, 1991; Vos et al., 1995; Amusa. N. A.,2004). Fusarium spp., produces wilt, root rot and powdery mildew caused by the fungus Leveillula taurica (Hafiz. A., 1986; Mushtaq & Hashmi, 1997). Plant product with antimicrobial properties notably have obtained emphasis for a possible application in food production in order to prevent fungal and bacterial growth because of chemicals( Bowers & Locke., 2000; Julgal et al.,2002; Sagdic et al., 2003; Sridhar et al., 2003; Lanciotti et al., 2004 ).
 

Experiments were therefore carried out to examine the mycoflora of chilli seeds and to study the comparisons between fungicides and herbicides.
 

Statically analysis of fungicides and herbicides revealed that Ridomyl Gold (68% WP) was found to be most effective at all dose levels followed by Mancozeb (80% W/W), Aliette (80% WP) and asafoetida @ 0.25% inhibited mycelial growth of fungi as compare to other treatments in blotter paper method whereas in deep freezing method Mean & Std. error showed that Ridomyl Gold, Mancozeb & Thiophonate methyl controlled all fungal flora after than asafoetida possess strong fungicidal effect @ 0.25% . It was found that in blotter paper method efficacies of fungicides and herbicides are highly significant at 5% for all doses. While in deep freezing method fungicides revealed highly significant result at all doses level whereas efficacy of herbicides significant only at 0.5% dose level. The results showed that fungicide Ridomyl Gold (68% WP) and herbicide asafoetida @ 0.25% were more effective and showed strong fungicidal activity towards isolated fungi.
 

 

Determination the efficacy of fungicides and bio-pesticides to control the seed borne pathogen of three varieties of okra
Three varieties of okra seeds viz. Green Star (An Indian variety), Shazadi & Sabzpari (Pakistani varieties) were analyzed for isolation and detection of seed borne fungi by using International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) techniques. Deep freezing method and Blotter Paper method applied. The predominated fungi of these three okra seed varieties (Sterilized and non-Strelized seed sere used) were Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, A. fumigatus, Alternaria alternata, Fusarium moniliforme, F. oxysporium & Drechslera hawiinesis. The fungal production will be control by using fungicide and bio-pesticides.
 

Research Project Completed
Project Title: Studies on monitoring of contaminants (Toxic metals and pesticide residues) in exportable food commodities (ALP-Project): 2005 to 2008
 

Advisory Services / Technical Assistance
 

S. No.	Name of Student / Department	Project Title	Degree	Year
1.	Mr. Jehzeb Abdul Wahid Institute of Environmental Studies, University of Karachi	Determination of pesticides, nitrate and arsenic.	M.Sc.	2009
2.	Mr. Qamar Abbas Institute of Environmental Studies, University of Karachi	Economical and efficient treatment of pesticides	M.Sc.	2008

RESOURCE PERSON:

 

---

[Back to SARC]    [Back to NARC]    [Back to PARC]