LAKSHMI DEVI, NSANIYA KAJANI2016-06-012016-06-012011http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/66568The use of pesticides has become inevitable in agriculture due to diverse reasons. Farmers are compelled to administer pesticides owing to the affluence of pests, eventually affecting the yield and quality of crops grown. This certainly affects the economy. Consequently, there is excessive use of pesticides to combat the issues. Pesticide usage is age old and over the decades, there have been various alterations in the pattern of usage owing to surged awareness. The current investigation was undertaken to estimate pesticide residues in selected cereals and pulses grown in the Northern Telangana zone of Andhra Pradesh. The major districts were Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Adilabad. The crops collected for study were jowar, maize and soyabean. The recommended package of practices and the farmers’ pattern of pesticide usage were studied using a structured questionnaire. Information was obtained on the pesticides used in the zone, the dosage they applied, yield of crops, the source of procurement of pesticides, the persons and sources who advised them on pesticide usage, the storage structures, the processing and cooking practices, implications on health of farmers and the annual expenditure on pesticides. Thirty farmers were selected randomly for the study. Besides, the study included the estimation of proximate composition of the selected food grains from the zone. The proximate analyzed were moisture, protein, fat, ash, fiber and carbohydrate. The food samples were analyzed in two parts, whole and processed. The methods followed were that of Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC). A multiresidue determination procedure was used to analyze pesticides by the gas chromatogram. The experimental aspect of the study was undertaken at the Quality Control laboratory, A.N.G.R.A.U. The pesticides analyzed in jowar, maize and soyabean were monocrotophos, acephate, chloropyrifos, quinalphos, carbofuran and endosulfan. Endosulfan is the exceptional pesticide that belongs to the organochlrine group of pesticides with the rest belonging to orgniphosphate group. The pesticide residues analyzed in jowar, maize and soyabean were below the detection limits (BDL). Residues of pesticides are relatively less likely to persist in cereals and pulses than in vegetables or fruits. The amounts of residues thus detected are low to negligible. This perhaps is due to the fact that cereals and pulses contain lower moisture, thus not enabling pesticide residues to persist post harvest. Farmers in the zone experienced many health implications as a consequence of unsafe handling and application of pesticides. There is an immense lack of awareness among farmers in the zone with regard to the safe practice in administering pesticides. Most of the farmers, being small, did not have the affordability to administer the recommended dosage of pesticides, eventually; the yield among them was lower than that expected.enpesticides, crops, sampling, land management, biological phenomena, maize, grain, pesticide residues, rice, yieldsFOOD GRAINS, GROWN,NORTHERN TELANGANA ZONE, ANDHRA PRADESHThesis