Gerbil: As an Indicator of Pesticide Pollution in Agriculture Fields

Abstract

Pesticides are chemical substance used in agricultural land to protect the crops and increase the production and also accumulate in food chain causing risks to mammals. Gerbil is easily found in agricultural fields and is a most destructive pest of crops and stored grains in Northern India, especially in the desert of Rajasthan. They possess similar physiological and biological mechanism to human beings. Therefore present study is focused on pesticide pollution in agricultural fields taking the Gerbil as a biological indicator by analyzing the pesticide residue in liver, kidney and brain of Gerbil. The Gerbil was randomly collected from the agricultural fields of Jaipur. They were not given any pretreatment and their tissues (Liver, Kidney and Brain) were directly taken for analyzing organo-chlorine pesticide and their extent of contamination was estimated by GLC. In present study enough concentration of organo-chlorine pesticide residue was found in tissues of Gerbil which enter the animal via food chain directly or indirectly and it reveals that Gerbil can be used as an indicator of pesticide pollution in agricultural fields. The tissues found were laced with pesticides and the brain had the maximum amount of total HCH while liver and kidney had the maximum amount of DDT respectively.