Effect of pesticide (Tara-909) on biomethanation of sewage sludge and isolated methanogens

Pesticides (like Tara-909, etc.) have been used extensively to control pests and insects in the rice paddy cultivation which is also an important abiogenic source of methane, a green house gas. In order to study the inhibiting effect of Tara-909 on methanogens, in vitro studies of the effect of the pesticide Tara-909, on the biomethanation of: (i) sewage; (ii) prereduced enriched methanogenic medium inoculated with methanogens; (iii) sewage and prereduced enriched methanogenic medium inoculated with isolated methanogens; and (iv) autoclaved sewage sludge inoculated with methanogens were completed. Tara-909 has been found to inhibit biomethanation in all cases, i.e., methane generation from rice paddy fields is likely to be reduced considerably.