Agro Forestry System of Argentina, Over Actual Farm Methodologies: A Review

Abstract

The widespread use of glyph sate for weed control and the fallow associated with biotech crops has heightened public concern in the Pampas. The goal of this study was to compare the presence and concentration of the herbicide and its main metabolite (AMPA) in soil and other environmental compartments of the agroecosystem in question, including groundwater, to real-world agricultural management practices in the area. The presence of glyph sate and AMPA was nearly universal in solid matrices (83 e100 percent), with maximal concentrations among the highest ever recorded (soil: 8105 and 38939; sediment: 3294 and 7219; suspended particle matter (SPM): 584 and 475 mg/kg of glyph sate and AMPA, respectively). Surface water had a lower detection frequency (27e55%), with maximum glyph sate and AMPA concentrations in whole water of 1.80 and 1.90 mg/L, indicating that SPM analysis would be more sensitive for detection in the aquatic ecosystem. In groundwater, there were no detectable levels of glyph sate or AMPA. The total cumulative dose and total number of applications were better correlated with glyph sate soil concentrations than the last spraying event dose, and an increment of 1 mg glyph sate/kg soil was estimated every 5 spraying events. The findings suggest that application rates are higher than dissipation rates under current practices. As a result, glyph sate and AMPA should be regarded as “pseudo-persistent” pollutants, and management procedures, monitoring programs, and the ecological risk to soil and sediments should all be revised.