Ecological Implications of Pest Management in a Forest Agroecosystem: A Case Study of the Relative Toxicity of Some Pesticides Used For the Control of Pests in Akumadan, Ghana

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Date
2011
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Abstract
The use of pesticides on agricultural lands to protect crops and agricultural produce has increased worldwide since the advent of the ‘green revolution’. In Ghana pesticide use continues to increase as agricultural production intensifies highlighting the potential problems in conserving biodiversity in agricultural ecosystems. Available literature supports the fact that a lot of research work has been done on the toxicity of pesticides in agroecosystems elsewhere in the developed Countries, but in Ghana, pesticide effects have not been given much attention and research. There is scanty information on the toxicity of pesticides to the agroecosystem and it is against this background that this study sought to assess the effects of these pesticides on agroecosystems in Ghana. The research consisted of questionnaire survey, field work and laboratory experiment using earthworms. Questionnaires were administered to 120 farmers in 120 households at Akumadan in Ashanti region. The field work was also conducted in Akumadan to find out the environmental and health problems which have arisen due to the handling and usage of chemicals. The laboratory experiment used 300 earthworms in groups of 6 and each group consisted of 6 earth pots in which 10 earthworms were introduced. Five of the groups were exposed for 14 days to different concentrations of Lambda Cyhalothrin insecticide commonly used by farmers in Akumadan while the sixth group was set up as control using only tap water for the same period. The results generated from the questionnaire survey indicated that the use of pesticides could cause health problems to farmers. The field work also indicated that pesticide application could be toxic to non-target organisms. The laboratory experiment also indicated that pesticides could be toxic to the earthworms exposed with the highest mortality of 34% recorded at the 0.64ppm concentration. The calculated LC50 value was 0.632ppm.  
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A Thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Environmental Science
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