In order to elucidate the fate of the residues of the bipyridylium herbicide paraquat in soil, maize plants were grown for 4 weeks on the specially-made pots filled with two different types of soils containing fresh and 6-week-aged residues of [$^{14}C$]paraquat, respectively. The mineralization of [$^{14}C$]paraquat to $^{14}CO_{2}$ during the aging period and the cultivation period of maize plants amounted to $0.13{sim}0.18%$ and $0.02{sim}0.17%$, respectively, of the original $^{14}C$ activities. At harvest the roots and shoots contained less than 0.1% and 0.01% of the originally applied $^{14}C$ activities, respectively, whereas the $^{14}C$ activities remaining in soil were more than 97% in both soils. The water extractability of the soil where maize plants were grown for 4 weeks was less than 1.2% of the original $^{14}C$ activities. Most of the non-extractable soil-bound residues of [$^{14}C$]paraquat were incorporated into the humin fraction. Soil pHs during the aging of soil B and after cultivation in all treatments increased. The distribution of the $^{14}C$ activities in subcellular particles of the maize plant roots was the highest in the residue fraction(incompletely homogenized tissue). Dehydrogenase activities increased after vegetation, regardless of soil aging.