Concern has been expressed that repeated use of pesticides may be lead
ing to accumulation of residues in soil and to damaging effects on the
environment. A long-term experiment, known as the Chemical Reference
Plots, was started in 1974 on a silty clay loam soil at Rothamsted in
which plots received applications of up to five pesticides (aldicarb,
benomyl, chlorfenvinphos, glyphosate and chlorotoluron or triadimefon)
, each plot receiving the same treatment annually for up to 20 years.
Spring barley was grown each year, and its yield was taken as an indic
ator of soil fertility. The glyphosate and triadimefon were applied to
the autumn stubble prior to ploughing from growing seasons 1980 and 1
982 respectively, chlorotoluron was sprayed pre-emergence (1974 and 19
76 only) and the other compounds were incorporated into the soil in sp
ring immediately before sowing (1974-1993 inclusive). No deleterious e
ffects on crop productivity were observed from these pesticide applica
tions, and no differences could be found in microbial processes in soi
ls sampled in April 1992 save for a small increase in the amount of mi
crobial-biomass carbon in plots receiving aldicarb. No pesticide resid
ues could be detected in soil taken in August 1994, 17 months after th
e last experimental treatment. In laboratory incubations using these s
ame soil samples, the degradation of aldicarb residues was greatly enh
anced in plots that had received aldicarb for 20 years, whereas degrad
ation rates of benomyl, chlorfenvinphos and triadimefon residues were
not influenced by the treatment history.