Persistence of acetamiprid in paddy and soil under West Bengal agro-climatic conditions

Acetamiprid insecticide has been widely used to control paddy insects. In order to find out the dissipation of acetamiprid residues in paddy (variety: Satabdi), field studies were conducted in Nadia, West Bengal. Acetamiprid (20% SP) was applied twice at 10 g (T₁), 20 g (T₂) and 40 g (T₃) a.i. ha^-1 with three replications along with untreated control (T₄). Residue analysis of acetamiprid in paddy (leaf, grain, husk and straw) and soil was conducted utilizing high-pressure liquid chromatograph (HPLC) with UV detector at LOQ of 0.05 mg kg^-1. The recoveries of acetamiprid from fortified paddy sample were obtained in the range of 81.8 to 93.1% (for leaf, grain, husk and straw), and for soil, it was 87.2 to 94.3% at the LOQ level and upper two levels of LOQ. The initial residue of acetamiprid (0.11-0.99 mg kg^-1) dissipated following the first-order reaction kinetics with the half-life of 1.5 to 1.8 days in paddy leaf and 1.3 to 1.4 days in soil. In harvested samples of paddy straw, grain and soil, the residue was found below LOQ. Because of the rapid dissipation, acetamiprid may be considered to have low risk to the ecosystem. Therefore, the use of acetamiprid for plant protection in paddy may be considered safe for food and environmental health.