Influence of Organic Amendments on the Degradation of Endosulfan

A laboratory experiment was conducted to study the effect of soil amendments with four different sources of organic matter on the dissipation rate of endosulfan. Farm yard manure (FYM), vermi compost, leaf compost and charcoal, dried, ground (< 4 mm) and thoroughly mixed with a calcareous soil at a rate of 2.5 % and placed in plastic pots. Endosulfan was added at 10 mu g level. In 30-day incubation period the degradation was fastest in vermin compost, 88.48 %, followed by FYM, seababul leaves and charcoal, recording 87.21 %, 79.41 % and 68.39 %, respectively, as compared to un amended treatment where slow degradation of 65.53 % was observed. The half life was 18.8 days in un-amended soil as compared to 1.01-1.29 days in vermi compost, farm yard manure, charcoal and leaf compost. The amendment with vermin compost, followed by FYM was found to be most effective and enhances the degradation as compared to the other amendments.