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Microbial Activity in Benomyl-Treated Soils. J. L. Peeples, Research Plant Pathologist, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington, Delaware 19898, Present address: Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service, Box 5426, Mississippi State 39762; Phytopathology 64:857-860. Accepted for publication 21 January 1974. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-64-857.

Benomyl did not alter the gross microbial populations of soils treated in the field at 2.2, 22.4, or 89.6 kg (active ingredient)/hectare, and only an initial slight increase was observed in the respiration rates of soils treated in the laboratory at 10 µg/g of soil. Dilution plates on three selective media were made periodically from soils treated two or three times annually by incorporation into cropped area, or by surface application to turf or fallow areas in Delaware, Florida, and North Carolina. Respiration was measured by CO₂ evolution.