Abstract

                                One of the recognised main requirements determining the efficacy of a pesticide formulation is its stability in storage. The different pesticides have to be procured well in advance and kept in sufficient stocks by dealers as well as by the farmers to meet the demands for plant protection operations during the proper time and season of the crops. There is no adequate information at present on the shelf life (stability) of the different pesticide formulations during storage apart from the claims of the manu- facturing firms in respect of the stability of the basic technical materials used in the pesticide formulations. At the Pesticides Testing Laboratory, Coimbatore, deterioration was reported in active ingredients in some pesticide formulations (Thyagarajan and Venkataraman, 1967). Studies were continued in the Pesticides Testing Laboratory, Coimbatore on this aspect with some more pesticide formulations received for tests at the laboratory, adopting the usual methods of storage of pesticides purchased in the Agricultural Depots and the results are presented below.

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