How does insecticide affect plant Growth?

References

• Internet

Updated on December 2013:

http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/boricgen.html

• Book

The Pesticide Book, 6th ed* (2004)

Published by MeisterPro Information Resources

http://ipmworld.umn.edu/ware-intro-insecticides

• Article

PCP Volume 50, issue 4 - Ayumi Tanaka

Published on April 13, 2009

https://academic.oup.com/pcp/article/50/4/681/1909371/Photosynthetic-Research-in-Plant-Science

Projection

Application

Agriculture is becoming very important for the environment. Knowing about how some insecticides affect the germination and growth of seeds can help me understand the harm that these chemicals can do to the environment.

Agriculture is very important in the economy of the world. People use insecticides in agriculture to better the quality and production of some crops. People can use this science fair to be aware of the control of insecticides in the environment, since there is approximately 3.2 million tons of insecticide used each year.

Conclusion

My hypothesis was correct. The seeds with insecticide didn’t grew because of the components of the insecticide. I came into a conclusion when testing the variable in this experiment that when a seed absorbs water, nutrients and insecticide it will not grow. That’s because plants and seeds need a limited amount of boron (boric acid), because if they go over the limit, the boron can become toxic and affect the plant's growth.

Analysis

Observation and Results

Day 7

The bean seeds of this experiment without insecticide (control) germinated successfully turning into a plant. But, why didn’t the bean seeds with insecticides (variable) germinated? The variable absorbed all water and nutrients including the insecticide through the process of imbibition. Since the variable absorbed all the insecticide containing boron, it became toxic for the seed. This led to the stunt of the seed’s growth.

Variable

Control

Seeds with insecticide were already in decomposition

Observation and Results

Day 5 and 6

Control

Variable

Control

Observations and Results

Day 1 and 2

Variable

Do insecticide stunt plant Growth?

Control

Observations and Results

Day 3 and 4

Variable

Control

Methodology

Ioan Petru Colón

Biology

Mrs. Hiraldo

10th Grade

4.Every few days, spray the designated plant with insecticide.

5.Record any difference you see in overall plant health and growth for 1 week.

Methodology

1. Plant 2 groups of seeds (containing 4 seeds) at a distance from each other in an outside yard. Make sure however, that they will get the same amount of sunlight.

2. Spray some insecticide on one group of seeds. Remember which one!

3. Observe the germination rate and growth of both of the seed groups.

Materials

• insecticide
• bean seeds (Phaseolus vulgaris)
• soil
• water
• sunlight

Background

Problem

“Insecticides are agents of chemical or biological origin that control insects.  Control may result from killing the insect or otherwise preventing it from engaging in behaviors deemed destructive.” (Radcliffe’s IPM World Textbook - University of Minnesota). Most of insecticides are man-made from heavy metals and arsenic compounds such as boric acid. Plants need boron, a major component of boric acid, to grow. However, too much boron can be toxic for plants" (National Pesticide Information Center).

Do insecticides stunt plant growth?

Hypothesis

I'm going to be working with bean seeds also known as "Phaseolus vulgaris" which are very important to the environment. Seeds are the fertilized ripened ovule of a flowering plant containing an embryo and capable to produce a new plant. They reproduce through a process called germination. In this process the seed develops into a plant with the help of its surroundings. Germination occurs mainly because of water. The seeds have almost no water, ergo, it attracts the water by a type of diffusion called imbibition, which, uses no energy. Finally, the water causes the seed to expand and open to continue germination.

My hypothesis is simple. I think that the seed containing insecticide will not grow during germination because of the elements that the insecticide may contain.

Abstract

I’m going to observe two group of bean seeds through the process of germination. I want to help people understand how insecticides affect plant growth. First, I gathered all the materials. Then, I Planted two groups of seeds (containing 4 bean seeds) at a distance from each other in an outside yard.

I sprayed some insecticide on one group of seeds as a variable and the other group that had no insecticide as a control. Finally, I observed the germination rate and growth of both seed groups for seven days.