Bioremediation technology for insecticide residues in horticulture

Project ID

HORT/2000/081

Project Country

Philippines

Commissioned Organisation

CSIRO Entomology, Australia

Project Leader

Mr John Oakeshott

Email

John.Oakeshott@ento.csiro.au

Phone:

62464157

Fax:

62464160

Collaborating Institutions

ORICA Australia Pty Ltd, Australia

University of the Philippines at Los Banos, Philippines

University of the Philippines, Diliman, Philippines

Project Budget

$398,626.00

Start Date

01/01/2001

Finish Date

31/12/2003

Extension Start Date

01/01/2004

Extension Finish Date

31/12/2004

ACIAR Research Program Manager

Mr Les Baxter

Overview Objectives

The project aimed to further develop existing Australian bioremediation technology in order to remove pesticide residues from the surfaces of horticultural crops.

Project Background and Objectives

The use of chemical pesticides in the world's agricultural systems continues to grow. In 1998, the sale of agricultural pesticides in the Philippines was worth about A$70 million. In the same year in Australia, factory sales of pesticides reached nearly A$1.3 billion. Horticulture (along with cotton) is a major user of pesticides in Australia. Without pesticides it would be hard to meet consumer expectations of quantity and quality.

However, the remains of pesticides on the harvested product are a cause for concern in two ways. The first is direct toxicity to the consumer. This only occurs with very high concentrations of residue; even at low levels, though, there may be sub-clinical changes that can build up into symptoms over prolonged periods of exposure. Secondly, consumer pressure is driving many countries to become increasingly stringent about the concentration of residues on imported produce. For a country to export successfully to major markets like North America, Japan and Europe, its produce must satisfy these regulatory demands for minimal residue contamination.

Pollution of the natural environment is the other reason for concern over contamination. The main issue is pesticides in waste waters. Fish and invertebrates can be affected and, at higher levels, there are again human health concerns. Soil can also be contaminated. In addition, proven contamination of the environment is indirectly detrimental to the growers themselves because it is likely to affect their ongoing 'right to operate' and cause hostility to the industry.

CSIRO Entomology has developed enzyme-based technology that can remove residues of some key organophosphate (OP), carbamate and pyrethroid insecticides from drainage water and the surface of harvested commodities. The enzymes used, usually isolated from bacteria living in pesticide-contaminated soils, can break down the pesticides into essentially non-toxic compounds. CSIRO and Orica Pty Ltd are commercialising this.

The idea of this project is to develop protocols for applying the current suite of enzymes, after harvest, on four major crops. This will take place in the Philippines and Australia.

Progress Reports (Year 1, 2, 3 etc)

Year 1:

Year 3 (01/01/2003-31/12/2003)
The presence of pesticide residues on horticultural produce is of concern because of its direct toxicity to consumers, its environmental pollution and also because of increasingly stringent requirements in many countries concerning the concentration of residues on imported produce.
CSIRO Entomology, in conjunction with ORICA Australia Pty Ltd and Horticulture Australia Limited, has developed an enzyme bioremediation technology for the removal of certain organophosphate, carbamate and pyrethroid insecticides from irrigation drainage water and the surfaces of horticultural commodities. This project aims to develop protocols for applying the current suite of enzymes, after harvest, on four main crops (tomotoes, bananas, mangoes and eggplants).
Preliminary data from the trials conducted at the University of the Philippines indicate that at least 60 per cent of diazinon residues and >70 per cent fenitrothion residues can be removed from the surfaces of eggplants with 30 minute treatments of our organophosphate degrading enzyme. Furthermore, >65 per cent of fenitrothion residues could be removed from tomatoes with a 60 minute treatment with enzyme. This latter result is particularly encouraging in view of the fact that tomatoes generally retain more pesticide residues than eggplants.

Year 2:

The presence of pesticide residues on horticultural produce is of concern because of its direct toxicity to consumers, its environmental pollution and also because of increasingly stringent requirements in many countries concerning the concentration of residues on imported produce.

CSIRO Entomology, in conjunction with Orica Australia Pty Ltd and Horticulture Australia Limited, has developed an enzyme bioremediation technology for the removal of certain organophosphate, carbamate and pyrethroid insecticides from irrigation drainage water and the surfaces of horticultural commodities.

This project is a joint project between CSIRO Entomology, Orica Australia Ltd and the University of the Philippines that aims to develop protocols for applying the current suite of enzymes, after harvest, on four main crops (tomotoes, bananas, mangoes and eggplants).

Year 3:

Project Outcomes

The project made progress in the development of application protocols for enzymatic remediation of pesticide residues; it did not fully develop application protocols.
During the project, choice of commodity was restricted by need to use product with nil or known residue background. The development of enzymes for surface residue remediation has been baseline work and it was thus ambitious to consider that a medium project could develop full 'application protocols'. Critically the project has produced sufficient data and indicated sufficient potential for the use of the enzymes on fruit for the commercial partner, Orica to maintain an interest in further developing the products for fruit remediation.
The project also made progress towards the development of a remediation enzyme for certain larger pyrethroids but the process is not complete. Specifically the CSIRO team have detected 13 variants of the blowfly E3 esterase which show potential for degradation of Type II pyrethroids such as deltamethrin and cypermethrin.
CSIRO will continue to progress this component of work beyond the life of the project to try to further boost activity of most promising variants. Commercial partner Orica is currently scaling up fermentation and conducting formulation research on this class of enzyme ahead of laboratory-scale proof-of-concept experiments.
The first commercial product emerging from the research was launched by Orica Watercare at the 4th International Crop Science Congress, held in Brisbane in September 2004. The product, the first in the LandguardTM series, degrades organophosphates. The launch was complemented at the Congress by a CSIRO poster presentation in which ACIAR's contribution was acknowledged. Orica Watercare reports considerable interest in LandguardTM, both from the scientific community and from farmers.
However, as this project did not specifically focus on water cleanup any such benefit can only be indirectly attributed to this project. The CSIRO Bioremediation program is to be part of a major new research centre announced by the Australian Government in the 2005-2006 budget.

Location

There are no project locations defined for this project.