In vitro study on the influence of methyl parathion on soil bacterial activity.

A study was conducted to find out the effect of different concentrations of Methyl parathion, an organophosphorus pesticide on soil bacterial population, soil respiratory activity and dehydrogenase activity, under laboratory conditions for a definite time period. The higher concentration (100 ppm) of Methyl parathion application, considerably reduced bacterial count, CO2 evolution and enzyme activity in soil but the microbial activities seemed to recover several weeks following pesticide application.