Biochemical changes in rice plant due to application of carbofuran
A Nayak, PK Mahapatra and KS Behera
Carbofuran is a widely used insecticide for the control of a number of major rice-pests and caused a resurgence of rice leaf folder. An investigation was undertaken to study the effect of carbofuran application on different biochemical activities of the rice plant. Results indicated that gross weight of all the plant tissues (root, stem, and leaf) observed were more 21 days after treatment of carbofuran and highly pronounced in stem followed by leaf at 28 days after treatment. The average gross weight of the whole plant on 28 days after treatment was 55.7 gm in the untreated control compared with 122.8 gm in the treated plants. As regards soluble amino acids and chlorophyll, an increase of both the parameters in treated plants compared to the control plants was observed from 14 days after application of carbofuran. The difference in chlorophyll content was more on 14 days after treatment 3.55 and 5.40 mg/gm of fresh tissue in control and treated plants, respectively; whereas the difference in total soluble amino acid content was more on 28 days after treatment. The activity of acid phosphatase was more only in the root and leaf in treated plants than in control.