General agricultural use of pesticides carries with it potential hazards to man and directly by exposure to toxic residues in food and indirectly to the environment. In an effort at developing active microbial strains that could be of relevant in bioremediation of pesticides contaminated soil, a feasibility study was conducted to isolate bacteria having Organophosphorus insecticides degrading abilityfrom soil of some selected agro ecosystems of Dimoria region of Kamrup, Assam which is having a history of repeated pesticide applications. The isolation of two pesticide viz. Malathion and Quinalphos, degrading bacteria was carried out using Mineral Salts Medium (MSM) and the isolated strains were identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Pseudomonas species, Staphylococcus species,and Bacilluslicheniformisbasedon staining techniques and plating on selective media.
