The dissipation of pendimethalin applied in direct seeded rice (DSR) and transplanted rice (TPR) field at 1.0 and 2.0 kg a.i. ha-1 followed biphasic first order kinetics (R2 > 0.91) and was comparatively faster under flooded TPR than DSR. The half-life (DT50) of pendimethalin in the soil ranged from 2.22 to 2.80 days in the initial phase and 23.51 to 24.66 days in the final phase in TPR for both application rates. However in DSR, DT50 varied from 3.67 to 4.35 days in the initial phase and 34.19 to 34.99 days in the final phase. Residues of pendimethalin in soil samples analyzed by HPLC and GC-MS/MS were below the detection limit (< 0.003 µg g-1) for both the application rates in DSR and TPR whereas 0.003-0.009 µg g-1 and 0.003-0.008 µg g-1 residues of pendimethalin were found in rice grain and straw samples, respectively.
Keywords: Biphasic first order kinetics; Direct seeded rice; HPLC; Maximum residue limit; Transplanted rice.