Pesticide Residues in Rhodesian Tobacco Attributable to Recommended Pest Control Practices

The use of pesticides on tobacco in Rhodesia is controlled by legislation that prevents the sale of tobacco treated with unscheduled pesticides. Residues attributable to seedbed treatments have not been studied in detaiI; the scheduled pesticides that can be applied to the soil and the leaf in the field have been considered more fully. Although no longer permitted for use, aldrin and dieldrin soil residues from previous treatments are more persistent in tropical sandy soils than in soils of the temperate regions and small amounts of background dieldrin are taken up by tobacco grown in these soils. Uptake of DDT is negligible and very little disulfoton or menazon applied to the soil is found in cured leaf. The pesticides that are permitted for application to the leaf result in residues of Iess than 1 ppm except menazon which results in a residue of up to 5 ppm.