Biodegradation of herbicide (atrazine) in contaminated soil using various bioprocessed materials.

The concept of biostimulation i.e. enhancing the intrinsic degradation potential of a polluted matrix via the addition of amendments, nutrients, or other limiting factors has been used for a wide variety of xenobiotics. The objective of this research work was to study the degradation of atrazine (25 ppm) in soil amended with biogas slurry, mushroom spent compost, farmyard manure and sodium citrate as one of the chemical amendment. In the lab scale experiments carried out up to 21 days, atrazine in soil was extracted by column method and analyzed by HPLC. The atrazine dissipation was observed to be highest (34%) with biogas slurry. The study on synergistic effect of sodium citrate with farmyard manure showed a negative effect in initial phase, but dissipation gradually increased after 1st week (i.e. 32% degradation after 21 days). Although addition of organic manures has been an integral part of sustainable agriculture practices; the present findings give a new dimension of it's utilization for removal of persistent pesticides.