Insecticide residues in vegetable crops grown in Kothapalli watershed, Andhra Pradesh, India : a case study

Investigation on the pesticide residues in vegetable (brinjal, cucumber, okra, ridge gourd and tomato) and water samples collected from Kothapally Adarsha watershed in Rangareddy district, Andhra Pradesh, India during 2007 revealed the presence of monocrotophos (range 0.001-0.044 mg kg''), chlorpyrifos (0.001 to 5.154 mg kg''), cypermethrin (0.001 to 0.352 mg kg'') and endosulfan (0.001 to 0.784 mg kg'1). The residues of monocrotophos and endosulfan were below maximum residue limit (MRL) in all the 59 vegetable samples, while the residues of chlorpyrifos were above MRL in 4 samples and cypermethrin in 2 samples. The water samples also revealed the presence of pesticide residues, but were below MRLs