Vol. 11, Issue 4 (2022)

Author(s):
Bhawna Babal, MK Sharma, Hemali Bijani and VK Phogat

Abstract:
Use of herbicides in modern agriculture is increasing due to scarcity of labour, options in time of application of herbicides and reliable control of weeds. But their excessive and repetitive use may lead to Phyto-toxicity in crops, residual effect on succeeding crops and health hazards to human and livestock populations, due to accumulation of residues in soil, crop produce and groundwater. Therefore, there is a need to monitor herbicide residues in crop produce to assess build-up, bio-magnification and bio-accumulation to avoid their adverse effects. When a herbicide is applied to a soil, a number of processes immediately start to remove it. Its persistence, however, depends upon soil properties and climatic conditions. Among soil properties, pH, temperature, moisture, organic carbon content, microbes and texture play major role in degrading herbicides. The present review aims to provide a better insight on the effect of different soil properties on persistence of herbicides by examining the vast literature.